The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball was coming off a 2021-22 campaign where they were the No. 3 seed out of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. They reached the Sweet 16 but fell to the Duke Blue Devils, who finished as a Final Four team.
The team had to rebuild for the 2022-23 season with so much of last year’s team leaving due to graduation, the NBA draft, and the transfer portal. Head coach Mark Adams did a good job of addressing some of their needs through the transfer portal and in recruiting. Prior to the start of Big 12, the Red Raiders were a respectable 10-2. Then the downward spiral began.
Over the next eight games ahead of the Big 12/SEC Challenge against the LSU Tigers, Tech dropped all eight matchups. This included five single-digit losses to conference foes. However, now the Texas Tech program has come back to life.
Since the break in the schedule with LSU, the Red Raiders and Mark Adams have won five of their seven games. This includes the epic comeback over No. 13 Iowa, where Tech needed a second-half surge to force overtime. The Red Raiders then won against No. 12 Kansas State and No. 6 Texas. Tech is now on a three-game win streak after knocking off West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday.
A huge reason for the turnaround has been the health of key players. Fardaws Aimaq finally debuted and has averaged 9.7 points and 6.8 rebounds in six games. Freshman guard Pop Isaacs has returned as well. He shot 60% against West Virginia after missing over three weeks of action. Isaacs hit three big shots from behind the arc.
According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, they are currently listed as the “next four out.”
For Adams’ squad to get into the tournament the final four games will be key. It begins on Tuesday night when the Red Raiders take on the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. Over the next two weeks, Tech faces Oklahoma, Texas Christian, Kansas, and Oklahoma State. Not exactly an easy task.
However, getting into the semifinals of the conference tournament would help as well. The team currently holds the No. 54 spot in the NET rankings with 4 quad 1 wins and a combined 11-0 against quad 3 and 4.
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