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

9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks vs. Gonzaga in Elite 8

Tariq Owens’ Elite 8 performance against Gonzaga was not record-setting. He did not have career or season-highs in any category.  But never was his presence felt more than in Tech’s 75-69 win to secure the program’s first-ever trip to the Final Four.

With 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks, Owens was all over the court that night in Anaheim, CA.  He made 4-5 field goals including a 3-pointer, which was important in helping his team keep up with the nation’s highest-scoring squad.

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What’s more, his seven rebounds were critical in helping Tech control the pace of the game as the Red Raiders were able to keep the lethal Bulldog transition game in check for most of the night.  It was Owens’ second-best rebounding game of the tournament following the ten he pulled down against Michigan in the Sweet 16 two nights prior.

But where Owens’ greatest impact came was in an area not measured by stats.  In the second half, Beard decided to use his versatile forward as the primary defender on Gonzaga’s leading scorer Rui Hachimura, who had torched the Red Raiders in the first half.

After putting up 13 points in the game’s first twenty minutes, the 6-foot-8 West Coast Conference Player of the Year went just 4-10 in the second half to finish with 22 points.  On 15 possessions in that half, Owens Hachimura’s primary defender limiting him to just five points in head-to-head matchups.

What’s more, after getting to the free-throw line eight times in the first half, Hachimura only went twice in the second.  That was largely due to Owens’ ability to use his length and quickness to stay in front of the versatile small forward.

Additionally, Owens drew a charge on Gonzaga’s star and blocked three of his shots with the most memorable being the blocked corner 3-pointer that Owens saved from going out of bounds.  That play with 0:56 to play will forever go down in Texas Tech lore as one of the greatest play ever made by a Red Raider, regardless of the sport.

It was the perfect play to sum up Tariq Owens as a basketball player.  Coming off his man to help a teammate, he used his athleticism and freakish reach to make an impossible play at the most critical of moments.

Though he made dozens of remarkable and jaw-dropping plays in his lone season in Lubbock, his block and save against Gonzaga to send Tech to the Final Four will forever be our lasting memory of Tariq Owens.  That’s one hell of a memory to leave us with.