Texas Tech basketball: Tariq Owens’ best games as a Red Raider

Today, we take a look at the best games in the Texas Tech basketball career of Tariq Owens.

Last Sunday, Tariq Owens turned 24 years old and later this week, he will take the court as a member of the Phoenix Suns’ summer league team.  As the former Red Raider begins to work towards earning a job in the NBA, we can’t help but think back to the impact he made on the Texas Tech basketball program in just one season.

Last year at this time, almost no one in Lubbock knew who the 6-foot-11 forward was as he transferred in from St. John’s.  It was his third stop as a college basketball player after spending his freshman season at Tennessee and his sophomore and junior campaigns with the Red Storm.

Any Red Raider fan could look at his career stats and see that he was an elite rim-protector.  His 2.8 blocks per game in 2017-18 led the Big East conference and ranked 11th overall in the nation.

But what no one could have predicted was the impact he would have on Red Raider basketball. Becoming a fan favorite with his above-the-rim play on both ends of the court, Owens anchored the best defense in the nation and in the process because the best shot-blocker to ever play for the Red Raiders.

With 92 blocks, he set a new single-season school record surpassing Tony Battie’s 1996-97 mark by 21 blocks.  In addition, he pulled down 5.8 rebounds per game, second-most on the team behind Jarrett Culver.

While most expected him to contribute defensively, he proved to be a much more integral part of the offense than was predicted when he committed to the Red Raiders last summer.   Giving Tech a career-high 8.7 points per game, he ranked fourth on the team in scoring.

With 16 double-digit scoring games, Owens shot an impressive 61.6% from the field.  Aside from his rim-rocking dunks, he also proved to be a capable jump-shooter, especially from mid-range.

We all saw what he meant to the team in the National Title Game when he was slowed by a high ankle sprain.  Tech struggled on both ends of the court but especially defensively with their defensive backbone at less than 100%.  In that game, the Red Raiders blocked only three shots and were out-rebounded by seven boards in the overtime loss to Virginia.

What’s more, with Owens hobbled Virginia shot 45.8% from both the floor and from 3-point range.  That was 8.5% better overall and 16% better from long-range than Red Raider opponents averaged on the season.  While some of that credit must go to the hot shooting Cavaliers, there’s no denying the impact Owens’ bum ankle had on Tech’s ability to implement its game plan the way it had all season.

After not knowing hardly anything about him twelve months ago, Red Raider fans are now wondering just how next year’s team will replace him.  And a case could be made that his absence will be felt more than that of any other player the program lost this offseason, including Culver, the Big 12 Player of the Year.

While the Lubbock native was unquestionably the best player on the team last year, there are a number of options to provide scoring from the wing and make plays for their teammates.  Kyler Edwards, Jahmius Ramsey, and Chris Clarke are all physically capable of doing what Culver did on the court, perhaps not to as elite of a level but to a satisfactory extent.

On the other hand, there’s no one on the roster with the size, length, and athleticism to protect the rim as well as Owens did while also being able to guard all five spots on the floor.  Players with his type of physical skills and foot speed are tough to come by and there doesn’t appear to be any single player matching that description in the program as of right now.

But we will worry about filling Owens’ shoes when November rolls around.  For now, let’s appreciate what a difference he made by looking back at his five best games from his lone season as a Red Raider.