Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Counting down the top 10 Texas Tech sports moments of 2019

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Matt Mooney #13 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots the ball in the first 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 Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Matt Mooney #13 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots the ball in the first 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 Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 11
Next

No. 2: Texas Tech basketball beats Gonzaga in Elite Eight

Chris Beard’s Texas Tech basketball team wasn’t even supposed to get back to the Elite Eight one year after losing six players from the program’s first-ever Elite Eight team.  And when they did get there, they certainly weren’t supposed to beat No. 1 seed, Gonzaga.

But that’s what happened in a 75-69  win over the Bulldogs in Anaheim, California.  Jarrett Culver led the way with 19 points and six rebounds but it was the tandem of Davide Moretti and Tariq Owens that played heroic roles down the stretch.

Moretti drilled a pair of clutch second-half threes from well behind the arc to keep his team in front in the final minutes.  And Ownes was his team’s defensive star with three blocks while also shutting down Gonzaga star Rui Hachimura in the second half.

Of course, his most critical play came in the final minutes when he blocked a Hachimura 3-pointer and saved it from going out of bounds.  Though replay showed that his foot was on the sideline when Owens saved the ball, the play will forever go down in Tech history as one of the most important ever.

But the chaos was not over.  That’s because Gonzaga was able to cut the lead to 71-69 with just 12 seconds to play.

However, when trying to press the Red Raiders, Bulldog guard Josh Perkins made contact with Matt Mooney as he tried to inbound the ball resulting in a technical foul.  That send Davide Moretti to the line where he hit a pair of free throws to ice the game.

"“Growing up my whole life watching these press conferences, games, and all that, and the guy that always gets there and says indescribable, and I’m like, oh, give us something better than that,” said Beard. “But I don’t have anything better.  It’s indescribable.  I think a lot about those four seniors, great leadership on this year’s team and I think about all the guys that came before us, seeing Coach Gerald Myers as happy as he is, a great Texas Tech coach and great AD and I think about everybody else but myself in those moments.”"

It was the second time in two NCAA Tournament games that Tech knocked off the Zags.  The first was also memorable as it propelled the 2005 Red Raiders to the Sweet 16 but that pales in comparison to what this year’s win over the former mid-major darlings of the nation meant.  Still, there was one more fantastic moment to come from Beard’s team in 2019.

Home/Texas Tech Red Raiders News