Tag: Texas Tech Basketball

TCU beats bubble-dwelling Texas Tech, gives USC another big lift

The Trojans continue to get help from other sources on the bubble. Texas Tech suffers a huge 83-82 loss and is now on the ropes.

The pattern of USC getting help on the NCAA Tournament bubble continues.

Texas Tech was making a charge on the bubble. The Red Raiders struggled in the first three months of the season but caught fire the past few weeks to move into serious bubble consideration. With a win over TCU on Saturday, the Red Raiders might have moved into the “Last Four In” category on the bubble, joining USC and making life a lot more complicated for the Trojans.

Instead, TCU beat Texas Tech 83-82 on two free throws in the final five seconds. TCU had a 12-point second-half lead, lost it, but recovered at the end to escape Lubbock with a one-point win.

Texas Tech falls to 16-13 overall, 5-11 in the Big 12. There is no rule saying a team can’t be accepted into the NCAA Tournament if it is six games under .500 in its conference, so the Red Raiders aren’t dead. However, they next play at Kansas against a Jayhawk team which is in the hunt for a No. 1 seed. If the Red Raiders can win that game on the road, they still have a pretty good chance of getting in, believe it or not … but if they lose, they’re unlikely to get in.

So, Kansas could pretty much eliminate a bubble competitor for USC next week. That’s a scenario Trojan fans should feel confident about.

As an aside, Kansas plays bubble-hugging West Virginia later on Saturday. Get your Jayhawk pom-poms out, Trojan fans.

Here’s our full Saturday bubble guide.

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Bracketology: What to monitor as we approach Texas vs Baylor

Texas looks to lock down a Top 2 seed in Waco against Baylor.

The Road to the Final Four ramps up in the coming weeks as seeding solidifies in college basketball. The Texas Longhorns were ranked as the No. 5 overall team and top No. 2 seed in the bracket reveal ahead of last Saturday’s games.

Given the resume it already has and how the tournament committee views Texas, a win over Baylor could go a long way toward tournament seeding. The Longhorns face one of their top three road tests of the season in facing the Baylor Bears.

Scott Drew’s team has owned Texas in recent history. Earlier this season, Texas narrowly defeated Baylor at home to snap the Bears’ run of dominance. They will likely bring their best basketball to defeat the most well-known team in Texas.

Here are a few things to keep an eye on for Texas as the regular season closes.

Making sense of Texas’ 74-67 loss to Texas Tech

Looking at what happened to Texas basketball on Monday night.

Texas suffered a shocking upset loss to Texas Tech on Monday night. Frankly, it’s taken a day to process what happened and still is hard to understand.

It’s equally difficult to explain the Raiders’ 14-12 record on the year. On paper, a team with the likes of Devion Harmon and Kevin Obanor should be a force in any conference. Add in Pop Isaacs’ skill set and early contribution, and you have a team that never should have started 0-8 in conference.

It appears Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams has started to put things together with wins over Kansas State and Texas in around a 48 hour span.

Let’s look at what went wrong for the Longhorns and what went right for the Red Raiders on Monday night.

No. 6 Texas suffers upset loss at the hands of Texas Tech

Texas’ Big 12 title hopes took a massive hit on the road in Lubbock.

No. 6 Texas’ Big 12 title hopes took a massive hit on the road in Lubbock. Texas Tech upset the Longhorns 74-67 behind a 25-point performance from De’Vion Harmon.

Texas Tech shot an exceptional 46% from the field and 50% from three. The Red Raiders made tough shot after tough shot over Texas’ defense.

The Longhorns fought back into the game after trailing by 13 points early in the second half. A Dylan Disu three-pointer tied the game at 64 with four minutes remaining. Texas Tech picked apart Texas’ defense to end the game on a 10-3 run.

Marcus Carr’s effort tonight kept Texas alive late. Carr scored 23 points and added six assist the help a stagnant Longhorn offense.

The loss moves Texas to 20-6 overall and 9-4 in Big 12 play. Texas is now tied with Baylor for the conference lead after Monday night’s action. Texas Tech earns its third Big 12 win as they fight to stay alive for the NCAA Tournament.

Up next for Texas is a rivalry matchup with Oklahoma. The Longhorns look to bounce back in front of a home crowd on Saturday.

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Texas basketball checks in at No. 6 in latest AP Top 25 Poll

13 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 for Texas basketball.

The Texas Longhorns (20-5) didn’t fall very far after a 1-1 split last week. The Longhorns fell one spot to No. 6 in college basketball’s latest AP Top 25 Poll.

With the ranking, Rodney Terry’s team stays in the Top 10 for a remarkable 13 straight weeks. To Terry’s credit, it’s easy to chart relative consistency from the team throughout the season.

There’s palpable excitement in the Lone Star State as the Longhorns travel to face the unranked Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-12) on Monday evening with revenge on their minds.

Texas won the first matchup with an impressive second half comeback before sending the game to overtime. Even so, the sting of Tech’s two-game sweep of the Longhorns last season brings added incentive to win on Monday.

With six games to go, each game certainly bears added importance. Despite the Raiders’ struggles facing the basketball team that hates Texas the most makes this matchup matter more than many prior games.

Texas will look to lock in its 14th consecutive week in the Top 10 starting Monday night.

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LOOK: Texas Tech fans camp outside gym ahead of Texas game

Texas Tech fans are already ready to get inside the gym.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-12) are ready to face the Texas Longhorns (20-5). Continue reading “LOOK: Texas Tech fans camp outside gym ahead of Texas game”

Past its scheduled gauntlet, No. 5 Texas basketball can work on itself

The upcoming slate of games gives Texas the opportunity to improve fundamentals.

The Texas Longhorns are through their toughest stretch of the schedule. The last four games saw the team travel to Tennessee, Kansas State and Kansas with a home battle with Baylor in the middle of the gauntlet.

I viewed the Kansas game as a scheduled loss, with Texas facing the Jayhawks in Lawrence on a Monday night. And while the Longhorns made it interesting, the team faced difficult odds from the start.

Rodney Terry’s team finished the four-game stretch with a 2-2 split, earning impressive wins over then No. 7 Kansas State and No. 11 Baylor. Now, the ‘Horns can focus on improving fundamentals during an easier stretch.

The next three games match Texas with three unranked teams. The Longhorns play host to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday after winning the first matchup in Morgantown, 69-61.

The next two games reunite Texas with two rivals, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Albeit, neither opponent is playing well at the moment. Both the Sooners and Red Raiders endured blowout defeats on Saturday.

The next three games afford the Longhorns the ability to refine their game. If they can, Rodney Terry and company can finish the season equipped for the final stretch.

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Recapping Big 12 games, including No. 10 Texas vs No. 7 K-State

Nearly a month after losing at home to K-State, Texas planted a flag in Manhattan.

The Texas Longhorns won on Saturday. It was perhaps the most improbable win of their 2023 campaign.

Texas fell behind on the road to No. 7 Kansas State at half, 36-25. The Longhorns dug the hole themselves, but the Wildcats played their role in creating separation.

In the early action, Kansas State made shots. Texas missed shots, including multiple point blank layups. It didn’t look like it was Texas’ day until the second half.

Texas started the second half on fire with a 14-4 run to cut the lead to one point. The Longhorns would build as much as a six-point lead despite trailing by 11 points at half.

It’s unclear what Texas head coach Rodney Terry told his team at halftime, but whatever message he impressed on his team worked. Texas closed out a double-digit comeback on Kansas State. The win comes just over a month after losing to the same team by 13 points in Austin.

Here’s a look at how every ranked Big 12 team fared on Saturday.

Around the Big 12: Recapping the week for Texas and the conference

We recap the week of Big 12 basketball.

The Big 12 race intensified this week as crucial conference games took place across the league. The biggest shakeup took place at the top of the conference.

The No. 7 Kansas State Wildcats fell to the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence on Tuesday. Kansas State, who has led the Big 12 race for much of conference play fell into a second-place tie with Kansas, TCU and Iowa State with a league record of 6-3.

Following a huge home win over No. 11 Baylor on Monday, the Texas Longhorns now sit atop the Big 12 standings at 7-2. After underwhelming in Knoxville for the Big 12-SEC Challenge, Rodney Terry’s team looks to be in position for a conference title run.

Texas’ win wasn’t the only story of the week. The Texas Tech Red Raiders continued their turnaround with an overtime win over No. 13 Iowa State. The win snapped an eight-game conference losing streak for Mark Adams’ squad.

Here’s a look at Big 12 basketball action from this week.

Texas Tech finally earned its first Big 12 win thanks to the largest comeback in conference history

It took the biggest comeback in Texas Tech history to beat ranked Iowa State.

It only took nine games and the largest comeback in conference history, but Texas Tech men’s basketball finally got its first Big 12 win of the season.

The victory came at home over No. 13 Iowa State, whom Tech was oddly favored to beat by 2.5 points. The Red Raiders covered that spread by the skin of their teeth, winning 80-77 after trailing by as much as 23 points.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Info, Iowa State had a 99.6 percent win probability after taking a 59-36 lead. That’s when Texas Tech began to mount the largest comeback in school history, forcing overtime with a 49-point second half.

Texas Tech was 0-8 in Big 12 play prior to the game. Iowa State was 6-2. However, the Cyclones’ now 2-5 road record might explain why they were underdogs.

Senior forward Kevin Obanor led the Raiders with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

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