The Cat has been out of the bag for the Red Raiders this season as most fans know that Texas Tech didn’t start their BIG 12 Conference play with a couple of wins but rather loses and picked up late in the season but the question is. Is it too late?
The Red Raiders lost a crucial game against TCU that could have potentially let them stumble into March Madness.
The final two games of the men’s basketball regular season take Texas Tech to play against No. 3 Kansas at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse before hosting Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (16-13, 5-11 Big 12) had a four-game winning streak end with an 83-82 loss to No. 24 TCU last Saturday, while the Jayhawks (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) extended their winning streak to six with a 76-74 win at home over West Virginia. KU won the first matchup against Tech in a 75-72 decision in Lubbock back on January 3 and has not lost inside Allen Fieldhouse since falling 80-63 to TCU back on January 21. Tech has won two straight Big 12 road games with wins at West Virginia and Oklahoma.
Texas Tech is currently at No. 54 in the NCAA NET Rankings with a 5-11 record in Quad 1 games going into the final week of the regular season. KU is currently sixth and OSU is No. 46. The Red Raiders are now 3-9 against AP Top 25 teams going into the matchup against the Jayhawks with a top-10 win over Texas when the Longhorns were at No. 6 in the national ranking two weeks ago.
Kevin Obanor leads Tech this season with 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game after producing 17 points and nine rebounds against TCU, while De’Vion Harmon is at 13.7 points per game after having 18 against the Horned Frogs. Fardaws Aimaq has led the Red Raiders in scoring in the past two games, scoring a season-high 19 against TCU and Oklahoma. He had 19 points and six rebounds against TCU following producing double-doubles against OU and West Virginia. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the road win at OU after having 14 points and 12 rebounds at WVU. Aimaq has played in only eight games this season, but has produced two double-doubles and is averaging 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds in those games. Jaylon Tyson has scored in double figures in 16 games this season, averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss to TCU. Pop Isaacs leads Tech with 55 3-pointers this season. He had two more against TCU but was limited to six points. He is averaging 11.5 for the season. Within the conference, Obanor is sixth in rebounding and 10th in scoring.
While Tech is a young team with four freshmen playing key roles, the team also has three players who have scored over 1,000 points in their careers Obanor (2,104), Harmon (1,325), and Aimaq (1,152). Obanor is currently one of three active players with over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Among active players, he has the ninth most rebounds (1,078), scored the 18th most, is 11th with 37 career double-doubles, and has played in 152 games (38th most). Aimaq has 43 career double-doubles which is the seventh most and his 10.7 careers rebounding average is the fourth-best.
Jalen Wilson leads the Jayhawks and Big 12 with 19.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, while Gradey Dick is adding 14.9 points per game during his freshman season which ranks eighth in the conference. Kevin McCullar, who started his career with three seasons at Tech, is averaging 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game (third in Big 12) in his first season at KU. The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 with 36.5 rebounds per game this season. McCullar also leads the Jayhawks with 60 steals and 71 assists. Dajuan Harris leads KU with 182 assists to go along with 8.5 points per game, while KJ Adams gives the Jayhawks four double-figure scorers with 10.7 points per game. Harris leads the Big 12 with a 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio.
KU is averaging 76.4 points per game which ranked fourth in the Big 12 and is limiting opponents to 68.2 points per game. They average 17.3 assists per game which leads the Big 12 and are shooting 47.0 percent for the season.
Tech is currently 3-6 on the road. KU is 14-1 at home.
