Red Raiders Remain at No. 22 in AP Top 25
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech remained at No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25 and moved to No. 28 in the NCAA NET Rankings following an 85-50 win over Oklahoma State in its only game last week. The Red Raiders (10-3, 1-0 Big 12) will now host No. 4-ranked Baylor (11-1, 1-0 Big 12) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena before traveling to play No. 17 West Virginia on Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Additionally, the Red Raiders come in at No. 15 in The Athletic poll by Seth Davis and No. 23 by Andy Katz in his NCAA Power 36. Gonzaga (16-1) remained atop the AP Poll, followed by Duke (13-1), Kansas (11-2), Baylor and Auburn (13-0) in the top-5.
After its win over then No. 1-ranked Louisville on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden, Texas Tech is now 24-86 all-time against top-10 opponents. The Red Raiders are 3-0 against teams ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll, including earning a 75-69 win over Gonzaga in the NCAA Elite Eight last season. Louisville is currently at No. 13 in this week’s poll, while Kentucky is at No. 14. The Wildcats (10-3) will travel to Lubbock on Saturday, Jan. 25 for a Big 12/SEC Challenge matchup at the USA. The Red Raiders are currently 12-17 in ranked vs. ranked matchups after the win over the Cardinals and 21-10 under coach Chris Beard against ranked opponents.
Statistically, Texas Tech is 11th nationally with 17.5 assists per game and leads the Big 12 with 224 free throws made through 13 games. The Red Raiders finished the game against Oklahoma State with 20 assists on 30 shots and is now second in the conference and 49th nationally with 228 total assists. The Red Raiders rank second in the conference in assists per game, in defensive rebounds per game (28.6), a 76.2 free-throw percentage and are third in the Big 12 with a 1.30 assist-to-turnover ratio, 6.0 rebounding margin, a 14.6 scoring margin and with an offense that is scoring 76.8 points per game. Tech ranks in the top-half of the conference in field-goal defense (39.2 percent), rebounding (38.6 per game) and turnover margin (3.1). Individually, Davide Moretti is sixth nationally and leads the conference at 93.8 percent from the free-throw line, while Chris Clarke is second in the conference with 6.0 assists per game and fifth with 8.9 rebounds per game. Clarke is 18th nationally with a 2.79 assist-to-turnover ratio and freshman Terrence Shannon, Jr. is sixth in the conference by shooting 84.1 percent from the free-throw line where he leads the team with 53 made. Moretti is currently seventh in the conference with 2.15 3-pointers made per game and leads the Red Raiders with 28 3-pointers this season.
Moretti is the NCAA active career leader in free throws with a 91.7 percentage where he is 166 of 181 through 88 games in his career. Moretti is followed on the list by Ryan McMahon of Louisville who is at 90.5 percent for his career.
In attendance, Texas Tech ranks 19th nationally, third in the Big 12 and is drawing more fans per game than any other program in the state. The Red Raiders are averaging 13,782 fans per game after attracting 14,325 in the Saturday game against Oklahoma State. The program has recorded two sell-outs this season against Eastern Illinois and Bethune-Cookman to start the season.
Texas Tech comes into the matchup against Baylor riding a 15-game home winning streak and have won 10 straight conference games dating back to last season. The Red Raiders are 58-5 at home under coach Beard and will come into the game against Kentucky on a 54-game non-conference home winning streak which is only behind Butler’s 58-game streak for the national lead.