Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech basketball: Best dynamic duos in Red Raider history

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - FEBRUARY 04: The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot "Raider Red" cheers with the student section before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers on February 04, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - FEBRUARY 04: The Texas Tech Red Raiders mascot "Raider Red" cheers with the student section before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers on February 04, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 8
Next
Texas Tech Red Raiders fans (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Texas Tech Red Raiders fans (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Ross and Jackson 2004-05

With NCAA Tournament success being the most important aspect of college basketball, Ronald Ross and Jarrius Jackson are the No. 2 duo in Tech history.  That’s because they helped lead the Red Raiders to the Sweet 16 in 2005, just the second time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams that Tech had made it to the event’s second weekend.

Though they had the help of a true freshman named Martin Zeno, who would put up one of the best debut seasons in program history, it was Ross and Jackson that carried this team.  They averaged a combined 32.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game.

Ross, a senior, led the way with 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.6 steals per game.  Meanwhile, Jackson supplied 15.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.

Fifteen times that year, Ross led the team in scoring.  That’s not bad for a player who three seasons prior had been just a walk-on.  But over the course of his career, the Hobbs, NM native would prove to be one of the best point guards in program history and one of Bob Knight’s favorite players.

Most importantly, he was Tech’s leading scored in all three of the team’s NCAA Tournament games.  He averaged 22.6 points per game and his 28 points in the round one win over UCLA was a program record.

Jackson was also a star that season.  The sophomore had six 20-point games including 32 in a road upset at no. 14 Oklahoma.  In fact, only seven times that year did he fail to crack the 10-point mark.

Shooting 45.8% from behind the 3-point arc, he hit an average of 2.9 shots from deep per game. What’s more, he was a 47% shooter from the field overall.

Of course, this duo was supported by a host of quality players.  In addition to Zeno (12.5 p.p.g.), Devonne Giles (11.3 p.p.g.) was also able to help Tech advance further than any Bob Knight Red Raider team.  However, had it not been for Ross and Jackson, the final Sweet 16 trip of the legendary head coach’s career would not have materialized.

Home/All-Time Basketball Lists