The Texas Tech Red Raiders have had a nice basketball season. They finished the regular season with a 25-7 record. Texas Tech finished second in the Big 12 to the Houston Cougars. They were 1-1 against Houston this year. Texas Tech has won their last three games, but they lost to Houston in the game before that. Texas Tech is solid as a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but if they have a disastrous Big 12 tournament, they may fall off the two line. Do you think Texas Tech will surprise some people in the NCAA Tournament?
Texas Tech Red Raiders Men’s Basketball Roster
The leading scorer for Texas Tech, and one of the best players in the nation, is sophomore Forward JT Toppin. He averaged 18.1 points per game and is from Dallas, Texas. The second-leading scorer for Texas Tech is senior Guard Chance McMillian. He averages 14.7 points per game and is from Vallejo, California. He is 6-foot-3. Teams will be focused on stopping Toppin.
The third-leading scorer from the Red Raiders is junior Forward Darrion Williams. He is also from California. The 6-foot-6 player averages 14.3 points per game. 6-foot 2-inch freshman Guard Christian Anderson is the fourth-leading scorer for the Red Raiders. Anderson comes off the bench. He is from Atlanta, Georgia. He averages 10.7 points per game. Elijah Hawkins is a senior guard from Washington, DC. He averages 8.0 points per game for the Red Raiders.
Kevin Overton is a senior 6-foot-5-inch guard from Oklahoma who provides some instant offense off the bench averaging 7.9 points per game. Devan Cambridge is a 6-foot-6 senior forward who also comes off the bench for Texas Tech. He averages 3.5 rebounds per game and provides some physicality off the bench.
Oddly, the sixth-leading scorer for the Red Raiders is Kerwin Walton a senior guard who now starts. He is 6-foot-5 and from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Walton averages 5.3 points per game but expect that number to rise as he is now getting starter minutes. The bench for the Red Raiders is Federiko Federiko (from Finland), Eemeli Yalaho, Leon Horner, Jack Francis, and Corbin Green.
Main Storylines
The top story on the Texas Tech page is the story about the Rolls Royce Teams and Diaper Dandies released by Dick Vitale. Texas Tech had a player on the second team of the Rolls Royce version, Toppin. He is their best player. Toppin was on the second team with Waler Clayton Jr. (Florida Gators), Kam Jones (Marquette), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton), and Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee.
The second story on the ESPN website is about bracketology. With any sort of a respectable showing in the Big 12 Tournament, Texas Tech should have no trouble earning a second seed in the NCAA Tournament. More interesting is the third article on the website about the Big 12 Tournament. The article is about all of the advertisements on the court where the tournament is being played in Kansas City. For what it is worth, the gray-lined court is also a strange distraction.
After this story, there is one about Texas Tech star Toppin being named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. He has had an outstanding season and is richly deserving of the honor. One factor to watch in the NCAA Tournament is that it is relatively easy for a good defensive team to shut down a star on the opposition. This may become a factor for Texas Tech moving forward, particularly if they meet a strong defensive team in the tournament.
Conclusion
The Texas Tech Red Raiders good year at 25-7, probably better than most people expected. They came in second place in the Big 12 and were ranked ninth in the final Associated Press poll. They ended the regular season by winning three games in a row, and they played several ranked teams in the conference. With a star, they might be tough in the NCAA Tournament, but good defensive teams will be able to contain Toppin.
