Texas Tech basketball defeated Kansas, 91-62, in what was almost by 30 points on Saturday night as the race gets closer and closer for the Big 12 title. Sophomore Jarrett Culver made sure the country remembered him as he dropped 26 points on the Jayhawks while having no turnovers, two rebounds and four assists. Redshirt senior Matt Mooney, sophomore Davide Moretti and redshirt senior Tariq Owens also had a double digits night but redshirt senior Norense Odiase racked up 13 rebounds for the Red Raiders. The Jayhawks did not have the lead whatsoever in the game and the game was only tied for 32 seconds. The Red Raiders had a 60.7 field goal percentage (34-56), 61.5 three-point percentage (16-26) and a 53.8 free throw percentage (7-13). Head coach Chris Beard and Culver spoke with the media following the game.
Chris Beard
- In his opening statement, Beard compared tonight to the night when the Red Raiders were in Lawrence. “They kind of steam rolled us early, so it’s kind of similar games.”
- Beard said his team had solid ball handling, good decision making and emphasized that a low turnover game against Kansas gives Tech a chance.
- Beard said he understands how Bill Self felt a couple of times. “Every time I’m in Allen Fieldhouse I grimace about seven times.”
- Beard said if his team shot the ball like tonight, they could beat anyone in the country. This was also a statement Self made too in his own press conference as he talked about Tech.
- For Mooney and Owens, Beard said he talked with Owens yesterday and Mooney this morning about playing in this game against Kansas. “’Don’t let the moment be bigger than us, this is why you came here, this is what we talked about in recruiting so it’s here just embrace the moment’, so great thing tonight is it wasn’t some kind of monumental big night for us, we’ve got a bunch of these left. When you’re having the kind of season we’re having, you earn the right to play in these kinds of games late in February and March, so we’re just living in the moment, we’re embracing the opportunity. Great memories come out of opportunity and we’ve got a great opportunity down the stretch.”
- Beard said they show the team big comeback wins, one possession games, big leads that were blown and when technical fouls cost a team a championship all to keep the team dialed in and focused especially when leading Kansas like they did at halftime.
- On what makes Texas Tech’s crowd special, “They’re just passionate fans. We’ve got a great student body that supports for our team and I just think we’ve got loyal fans. Especially with some of these people around here, we haven’t been having seasons like this in recent history, there’s a lot of people in that gym that have sat through a lot of down times and coaching changes, so I’m just proud that we’re doing our part to bring this program back where it needs to be. We need to be playing meaningful games in February and March every year, we’ve got a great university, great fanbase and this is what’s supposed to be happening.”
- Beard emphasized this is all for the players, “All I ever want to do is get these guys to the tournament especially Matt and Tariq and guys that have played great college basketball but have never made it in the NCAA Tournament, so now we’re just enjoying this journey together.”
- In regards to Culver, Odiase and Owens not having any turnovers tonight, “I just tell them ‘thank you’, really proud of them, ‘finally, do you understand what I’m looking for?’”
Jarrett Culver
- Culver said it is always good to see the ball go in for every one of his teammates. “As much work as you put in and everybody in our program works hard works hard every day so just to see the results is always good.”
- Culver described Odiase as a warrior. “(Him and Owens) were flying around. They were big on the boards for us tonight.”
- Culver credited the win a lot to the start the Red Raiders had and the fact they never turned around.
