Tag: Texas Tech Basketball

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Contact/Follow us @LonghornsWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas news, notes and opinions.

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

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.

[mm-video type=video id=01gr2x4jnk73k0nyd5ka playlist_id=none player_id=01gp1x90emjt3n6txc image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gr2x4jnk73k0nyd5ka/01gr2x4jnk73k0nyd5ka-5df6da50b4c91fec3980029c89e79581.jpg]

[listicle id=2010022]

PREDICTIONS: Texas vs Tennessee and the Big 12-SEC challenge

Texas’ high scoring offense faces Tennessee’s elite defense on the road.

A big Saturday is ahead for the Big 12 and the SEC. Texas and Tennessee are one of the highlights of the series.

Former Texas coach Rick Barnes and the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers play host to the No. 10 Texas Longhorns.

Tennessee presents the best defense the Longhorns will have faced. The Volunteers have ranked toward the top of the country in multiple defensive categories.

As far as what Tennessee brings offensively, the group is unremarkable compared to some of the better offenses Texas has faced. The Vols score 74.1 points per game (No. 88 in NCAA) to the Longhorns’ 80.5 (No. 16).

The clash should pull the Texas scoring average down, but Rick Barnes’ team has proven vulnerable against athletic mismatches like the Longhorns. The Vols recently lost to Kentucky by 7 in Knoxville.

Texas will look to get over its road struggles over the 2023 season. Here’s a look at how the games could unfold.

No. 10 Texas defeats Texas Tech, 72-70

Texas Tech sat on a cactus in a narrow loss to Texas.

The Texas Longhorns won again. This one felt more significant than most wins have been this season.

The Longhorns won a chippy battle with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, avenging last season’s two losses to the same team. They did so in comeback fashion once again.

Texas fell behind by double digits and trailed by 34-25 at halftime. A dominant second half performance saw Texas quickly take back the lead with just under 12 minutes remaining, 46-44.

After a 20-4 run and holding a 50-44 lead, the Longhorns forced a timeout midway through the second half.

Timmy Allen got the offense going early in the second period before Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice slammed the door on Texas Tech. Carr led Texas scorers with 20 points. Rice scored 18, followed by Allen’s 17 points.

Defensively, save for a 23-point performance by Tech freshman Pop Isaacs, the Longhorns neutralized the Red Raider offense. Kevin Obanor was all but rendered a non-factor in the game.

Texas improves to 15-2 on the season, while Texas Tech falls to 10-7. The Red Raiders are still winless in conference play through five games.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz52bnpekkafqb player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]