Ahead of Texas Tech’s matchup with Kansas at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, in United Supermarkets Arena, head coach Chris Beard, redshirt senior forward Tariq Owens and redshirt senior guard Matt Mooney spoke with the media.

Tariq Owens

- Owens said the last time the Red Raiders played Kansas, the senior leadership, including himself, failed to get the team mentally prepared to face the Jayhawks. “It’s been a big focus this week leading up to the game just getting everybody focused, mentally ready – it’s very exciting, great moment and this is why we all came here to play in games like this.”

Matt Mooney

- Mooney said defending the three-point line against Kansas is one of the Red Raiders’ priorities for Saturday.

- Mooney then shared his thoughts on Davide Moretti, “Moro, he was playing pro, before he came over here, he knows how to play, he’s got one of the smoothest strokes I’ve ever seen, so from my perspective, I’ve got to try and give him more open shots.”

Chris Beard

- Beard praised Kansas’ head coach Bill Self for the way he has coached the Jayhawks. “He’s basically changed the way they play. Very similar to what Coach Drew has done at Baylor they’ve had roster changes with injury and with leave of absence, I guess that’s the correct term, and he’s just turned them into almost a different team.”

- Beard emphasized consistency and said he believes Moretti has found a certain level of consistency on both sides of the court with his game.

- When asked what sort of problems Dedric Lawson could cause Beard responded with, “All sorts of problems. 99 problems and Dedric Lawson is one.”

- When asked if this is the most confident he has been with his team, Beard said confidence goes hand in hand with preparation and he likes to believe his program is always confident. “It’s not like we’re working any harder this week than we did three years ago this week. We a day to day process we believe in.”

- Beard said he has thought about calling a timeout every time the Jayhawks score in the first four minutes to make sure the Jayhawks do not get a hot start. “The way we set it up is there is 10, four-minute games and none of them are more important than the next.”