Wreck'Em Red
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Texas Tech basketball classics: Daryl Dora; Red Raiders topple KU in double OT in 2005

By Matthew Conner

BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 20: Bobby Knight, coach of Texas Tech talks to a referee during a game against St Josephs University on March 20, 2004 during the Second round of the NCAA Mens basketball Championships at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty ImagesI)
BUFFALO, NY - MARCH 20: Bobby Knight, coach of Texas Tech talks to a referee during a game against St Josephs University on March 20, 2004 during the Second round of the NCAA Mens basketball Championships at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York.(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty ImagesI) /
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The Texas Tech Red Raiders court. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
The Texas Tech Red Raiders court. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Martin Zeno was the best player on the court

Games against heavyweights reveal what true freshmen are all about.  In this contest, Martin Zeno stepped up in a huge way in what was a coming-out party on national television.

The Louisiana native was Tech’s leading scorer with 24 points.  That was tied with KU’s Langford for the game-high.

Ever the brilliant tactician, Knight devised a way to use the 6-foot-5 forward’s athleticism to combat the bigger KU roster.  All night, Zeno was asked to run the baseline where a KU big man inevitably picked him up.  Once that happened, Tech would run Zeno off a screen and get him the ball going towards the basket where he could either pull up for a jumper or drive to the rim against a slower man.

The plan worked brilliantly.  But it wasn’t evident in Zeno’s 7-16 shooting.  Rather, what told the story was the fact that he went to the line 14 times, making ten of those attempts.

In fact, the free-throw line was huge in this game.  Tech was 19-27 overall (but most of those misses came late in the game as fatigue began to set it) while KU was just 11-18.  That’s the type of edge a home underdog needs to have at the line.

The other two Red Raider stars, Ross and Jackson were excellent as well.  The former had 21 points while the later had 19.

But it was Zeno who stole the show.  In a debut season where he set a school record for points by a freshman, he had 22 double-digit efforts.  And his season-high came in Tech’s biggest win of the regular season.

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