Texas Tech basketball: Chris Beard’s most important regular-season wins

Tech topples No. 4 Baylor in 2017

Just weeks after beating WVU and only two days after almost upsetting Kansas in a one-point home loss, Tech was able to stun No. 4 Baylor 84-78 thanks to 52 big points in the second half.  But this game was one that looked like it was going to fall into the column of frustrating losses.

Tech opened the game on an 11-0 run to put the Bears on their heels.  But once Scott Drew’s team recovered, the visitors came back to take a 36-32 lead into the break.

Down as many as nine points midway through the second half, Tech was able to rally.  An 11-0 run gave Beard’s squad a 69-61 lead, one that the Raiders would not surrender.

Evans had a team-high 23 points and Stevenson added 21 to give their team a lethal one-two combination in the backcourt.  Meanwhile, the Red Raiders held the Big 12’s fourth-leading scorer, Jonathan Motley, to just 11 points, 5.9 below his season average.

It was a notable win for Beard because it was his first home triumph over a school that the good folks of West Texas have nothing but ill regard for.  Beating West Virginia was exciting but taking down such a highly-ranked Baylor team at home was almost erotic for the home fans.

It’s interesting that Baylor and Tech have become the two programs in the Big 12 in the best position to threaten Kansas’ yearly perch atop the standings.  Thus, the meetings between the two long-time rivals are taking on more importance than ever during the Beard era.  Therefore, notching his first win in this critical series was a key moment for the Red Raiders’ head coach during his first season.