A No. 3 seed in the East Region. A second-place regular season finish in the Big 12 behind Kansas, winner of 14 consecutive regular season titles. A handful of All-Big 12 honors. It’s been the season of the century for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (25-9, 11-7) give up just 64.6 points per game – first in the Big 12 and 15th in the country – and have won three of their last four. Most recent is a 70-60 defeat of Stephen F. Austin in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, thanks to 23 points and 10-for-10 shooting from the line by Evans.
Player spotlight
G #12 Keenan Evans: Evans was a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection after helping lead Texas Tech to its first 20-win season since 2007. The 6-foot-3 senior’s 17.7 points per game lead the Red Raiders and trails only Oklahoma’s Trae Young, the nation’s leading scorer, among Big 12 players. His 3.2 assists per game are a team-high as well. Evans has put up double-figure points in 28 of 33 games this year.
G #2 Zhaire Smith: Smith was third on the team with 11.2 points per game, scoring in double figures in 10 of his last 12 contests. At 6-foot-5 the freshman was also able to average nearly five rebounds per game. That, along with his defensive prowess (10th in the Big 12 with 1.2 steals per game) helped earn him a handful of postseason honors: Big 12 All-Defensive Team, Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and All Big-12 Honorable Mention.
G #23 Jarrett Culver: Culver was another freshman that made an immediate impact for the Red Raiders this season. The lanky, 6-foot-5 guard is second on the team behind Evans in scoring (11.7 points per game) and third in rebounding (4.8 per game). He leads Texas Tech in made three-pointers and his .408 clip from deep ranks 11th in the Big 12.
Head coach: Chris Beard
Beard was voted Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year (Bill Self, Kansas) after guiding the Red Raiders to a second-place conference finish and the third seed in the East Region of this year’s NCAA Tournament. In the last 10 years, Texas Tech has had four winning seasons, half of which came since Beard arrived in Lubbock in 2016.
Follow Andrew Huang on Twitter @AndrewJHuang and contact him at ahuang@alligator.org.
Coach Mike White and the Gators could have their hands full when they square off against Texas Tech tonight.
