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Texas Tech basketball: Jarrett Culver’s five best games as a Red Raider

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates late in the second half against the Michigan State Spartans during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates late in the second half against the Michigan State Spartans during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

31 points, 4 rebounds at Iowa State in 2019

Needing a win at Iowa State to clinch a share of the program’s first ever Big 12 title, the Red Raiders went to Ames riding an 8-game winning streak.  And thanks to Culver’s career-high 31 points, Tech was able to win in Ames for just the fifth time ever, 80-73.

The performance sealed Big 12 Player of the Year honors for the Lubbock native.  And it was a masterful showing indeed.

Seemingly answering every Iowa State salvo in the second half with a timely bucket, Culver willed his team to victory with 19 second-half points.  Six of his seven baskets in the second half either gave Tech the lead or came with the Red Raiders holding on to just a one-possession advantage.

The biggest came with just 57 seconds to play.  After Iowa State had cut the Tech lead to 72-69, Culver drove to the bucket for a layup to extend the lead to five points.  One possession later, following an Iowa State basket, his two free throws restored his team’s five-point lead to essentially seal the game.

"“I told him all week in preparation that we wouldn’t need him to score 30,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. “We needed him to have a great defensive game, share the ball and take what the defense gave him. I was incorrect though. It’s not the first time I was wrong in my life. We needed all those 31 he gave us. He’s a special player and he’d be the first to tell you that he would give all his teammates who passed for him and screened for him all the credit. He’s a really unselfish guy.”"

Next. Tech basketball pursuing some of the nation's top prospects. dark

Receiving just eight points from its bench, Tech needed its best player to help make up the difference and he did that and more.  Big time players have a knack for being at their best when the stakes are elevated and that is what Culver did in Ames.  With the best game of his career, the kid who grew up in the shadow of the United Super Markets Arena was able to bring the Big 12 trophy to his home town for the first time.

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