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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) /
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No. 7: Beating No. 1 Louisville at MSG

Making history was the theme of 2019 for the Texas Tech basketball program and on December 10th, Beard and his squad made history by being the first team in program history to beat the No. 1 team in the country when they took down Louisville 70-57.

Riding a 3-game losing streak and playing without leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey, the Red Raiders limped into the game at Madison Square Garden in New York having fallen out of the top 25 and looking to have little more than a puncher’s chance of scoring the upset.

But from the tip, the Red Raiders were the more aggressive and physical team.  Spearheaded by sophomore Avery Benson, who had 10 points and two momentum-changing blocks, Tech played a classical Chris Beard game by swarming the Cardinals and frustrating them to the point that head coach Chris Mack got a late technical foul.

Tech was led by Davide Moretti’s 18 points with most of those coming at the line.  Meanwhile, Terrence Shannon Jr. had a nice 13-point effort one game after scoring a career-high 24 points in his hometown against DePaul.

What was interesting is that Tech played against the much larger Cardinals without forward T.J. Holyfield on the court for long stretches because of foul trouble.  Going to a 5-guard lineup with 6-foot-6 Chris Clarke guarding the Cardinal big men, Tech continually double-teamed the post and forced numerous turnovers.

Clarke came down with 12 rebounds while also dishing out six assists as he once again continued to be Tech’s Swiss Army knife.  In addition, Kyler Edwards gave Tech nine points while Holyfield had eight.

This game was nationally broadcast on ESPN and served notice to the rest of the nation that Beard had yet again managed to put together a team that is hell to play against.  That’s something that the other contenders in the nation don’t want to hear but it was something Red Raider fans needed to see making it our No. 7 moment of the year.

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