Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Other seasons that didn’t live up to the hype

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: The Texas Tech Red Raiders play against the Eastern Illinois Panthers during the second half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 05: The Texas Tech Red Raiders play against the Eastern Illinois Panthers during the second half of the college basketball game at United Supermarkets Arena on November 05, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next

In 2002-03, Tech couldn’t get to NCAA Tournament in Bob Knight’s second year

In the second year of the Bob Knight era, Texas Tech basketball was back to being exciting and nationally relevant.  And coming off an NCAA Tournament bid in 2002, many expected the Red Raiders to make serious noise in 2002-03.

Keep in mind that Tech returned four seniors and three juniors that year.  Most importantly, leading scorer Andre Emmett was back for his junior year after a breakout sophomore season that saw him score 18.7 p.p.g.

Also returning was Kasib Powel.  The versatile 6-foot-7 forward was back for his senior season after putting up 15.1 p.p.g. the previous season, his first as a Red Raider after transferring in from the JUCO ranks.

What’s more, forward Pawel Storozynski, Mikey Marshall, Will Chavis, Ronald Ross, and Nathan Doudney were all back for their second seasons under Kight.  Additionally, Tech added more muscle in the post with 6-foot-9 European big man Robert Tomaszek.

But that team just never could get out of its own way.  Sound familiar?

After starting the year 4-0, the Red Raiders fell 67-62 on the road at Wyoming, a team coming off an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, one that included an upset of No. 6 Gonzaga in the first round.  In that game, both Emmett and Powell scored 20 points but the rest of the team came up with just 22 points.

However, a five-game winning streak led up to the start of Big 12 play.  But once conference action began, Tech went just 1-3 out of the gates with losses to Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State and a win at home over Baylor.

Ultimately, Tech ended the regular season with just a 16-11 overall record and 6-10 mark in Big 12 play.  Just like this year, beating ranked teams proved to be tough as Tech was just 1-7 in the regular season against top 25 teams with the only win being a 62-57 victory over No. 16 Oklahoma State in Lubbock.

In the Big 12 Tournament, Tech tried to put its best foot forward to earn a bid to the Big Dance.  After opening with a three-point win over Baylor, Tech stunned the No. 3 team in the nation, Texas, 92-81 in the second round.  Behind 30 points from Emmett and 25 from Doudney, Tech stunned the Big 12 and the nation but in the semifinals, the run ended with a 67-60 OT loss to No. 6 Oklahoma.

Tech eventually accepted a bid to the NIT where the Red Raiders reached the semifinals in New York where they fell to St. John’s and beat Minnesota to claim third place.  Interestingly, this was also the final season that legendary radio play-by-play man Jack Dale was on the call for the Red Raiders as his time behind the mic ended with his first-ever trip to Madison Square Garden.

To know just how disappointing this season was, remember that Knight eventually gave back his $250,000 salary because he felt like he didn’t deserve to be paid for the way his team performed.  Any time a head coach is willing to forfeit his salary, that has to fall into the category of a major disappointment as was the case with the 2002-03 Texas Tech basketball season.

Home/Texas Tech Basketball