Texas Tech basketball: The defining moments of the 2019-20 season

Benson’s Block vs. Louisville

As evidenced by how many moments on this list came in the four-game stretch against major-conference opponents prior to the start of Big 12 play, Tech went through quite a bit of fortification early in the season.  Thankfully, that run was punctuated in a positive manner.

When the Red Raiders took down No. 1 Louisville at Madison Square Garden, it put an end to the season’s first losing streak and sent a message to the rest of the country that Texas Tech intended on being a national force once again.

There were plenty of memorable moments from this game but without question, Avery Benson‘s high-flying block to end the first half was the one that we were all discussing the next day.  It was actually his second impressive block of the first half and part of a career night in which he scored 10 points and collected four rebounds.

There’s no arguing that Benson has never had a more prominent role in any game as a Red Raider.  In fact, he was the player interviewed by ESPN’s Holly Rowe following the win.  And his second block was the perfect metaphorical representation of how this game played out.

Playing without Ramsey, Tech faced a significant talent disparity.  The only way that an upset was going to occur was for Beard’s team to truly embrace the street-dog mentality that he tries to get all of his teams to play with and who better to lead that charge than Benson, who at the time was a walk-on.

With his team leading 31-28 in the closing seconds of the half, Benson came from across the lane to swat Lamarr Kimble at the rim after the Louisville guard had taken the ball the length of the court.  That play gave Tech all the momentum headed into the halftime break and was the perfect symbol of the program’s first-ever upset of the No. 1 team in the nation.