No. 13 Texas Tech is pulling out all the stops to “welcome” former coach Chris Beard when Texas visits the South Plains on Tuesday for a much-anticipated Big 12 Conference dustup.
The best revenge the Red Raiders can take on Beard for switching allegiances will be to beat his surging Longhorns and take another step forward in league play.
Beard left Lubbock and its beloved fan base last April to take over the Texas program and created plenty of hurt feelings that haven’t been soothed over the past 10 months. The Longhorns are prepared for an intense atmosphere as Red Raiders officials have brought in wrestling legend and wild man Ric Flair to rile up the sold-out crowd and keep it at a fever pitch.
The Red Raiders likely don’t need all the hysterics to get a leg up on the Longhorns; the kind of basketball they have been playing of late can get the job done. They enter Tuesday ranked and with a healthy roster that earned a 76-50 victory at home over Mississippi State on Saturday in a SEC/Big 12 Challenge contest.
Adonis Arms had a season-best 16 points with seven assists for Texas Tech (16-5, 5-3 Big 12). Kevin Obanor had 13 points and Mylik Wilson added 12 for the Red Raiders, who shot a season-best 61.7 percent (29 of 47) from the field.
“We did a great job of being physical with (Mississippi State) and had great intensity on defense throughout the game,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “It’s always exciting when you can share the ball and spread the points around. You look down our lineup and we have a lot of guys that can score double figures — nearly the entire team can.”
Texas Tech is 13-0 at home after outscoring Mississippi State 44-16 in the paint and limiting the Bulldogs to just 39.6 percent shooting. The Red Raiders also recorded 20 assists, tying a season high.
“I know we’ll have a great crowd, a lot of energy, and it will be really loud Tuesday,” Adams said. “We can all count on that. And I hope that our team is ready for a very tough, physical team that Texas has.”
The Longhorns (16-5, 5-3) head north after a 52-51 win at home over No. 18 Tennessee on Saturday in another SEC/Big 12 Challenge game. Texas squandered a 17-point lead, allowing the Volunteers to tie the game at 51-all as it scored just one point in the last 5:32.
But that point was the difference. Timmy Allen’s free throw with 6.2 seconds to play was the game-winner.
Courtney Ramey scored a season-high 18 points for the Longhorns, with Allen adding nine points. Texas is 16-0 this season when holding its opponents below 60 points and won their third straight game, including its first over a ranked team.
“We’re just focused on ourselves,” Allen said. “You know, there’s a lot of hate, a lot of rah-rah going on about (Tuesday’s game), but we’re going into the game with one goal. We understand it’s going be a hostile environment, but we think we’re built for this.”
–Field Level Media