Texas Tech basketball: Chris Beard’s best press conferences

“We have Whataburger in Lubbock, Texas.  I don’t think y’all do.”

Chris Beard loves Whataburger.  We’ll see plenty of evidence of that as we move on.  One of the first times that we learned about his love for Texas’ most iconic brand was in 2018 after his team took down Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 85-73 victory was the program’s first-ever in Lawrence, KS and was the first time in Beard’s tenure that he caught the attention of the college basketball world as a whole.  That night, Tech jumped out to a 17-5 lead and never trailed.

One huge factor in that game was that Tech’s bench outscored the KU bench 42-16.  That included 12 points from Jarrett Culver and 11 from Zhaire Smith, both of whom came into the game as substitutes after making several starts earlier in the season as true freshmen.

After the game, Beard was asked by a member of the media if he thought prior to the game that his bench would be an advantage over Kansas.  That’s when he delivered one of his most classic lines yet.

"“You know, I don’t know if we have an edge on Kansas in anything,” Beard said.  “Maybe…we have Whataburger in Lubbock, Texas.  I don’t think y’all do.  That’s an advantage.”"

For what it’s worth, there are nine Whataburger locations in the greater Lubbock area.  Meanwhile, the closest Whataburger to Lawrence, Kansas 203 miles south in Owasso, OK outside of Tulsa.

The fact that Beard had Whataburger on his mind after his biggest win to date at Tech, a win that had eluded every Red Raider coach that had ever taken his team to The Phog tells us two things.  First, Beard doesn’t get too high after monumental wins.  Second, he really loves him some Whataburger.