The Wolf Diamonds 3-2-1: Volleyball rolling in NIVC, OT win over Nevada

What were this week's top storylines in Texas Tech athletics? We take a closer look in this week's edition of The Wolf Diamonds 3-2-1!

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Red Raiders earn signature non-con win over Nevada in OT

The Red Raiders dropped from the AP Top 25 basketball poll following last week's close loss to Seton Hall in Madison Square Garden, spending just one week in the polls as a result.

However, they bounced back this week in a major way. Tech, led by Chris Beard on the sideline and Keenan Evans on the floor, toppled a 22nd ranked Nevada Wolf Pack team in overtime on Tuesday night, wrangling in their second noteworthy victory of the season.

The win is one where Evans had an eye-popping 25 second half points on his way to a career high 32. Coach Beard loved the aggressiveness he saw from his senior point guard in getting to the rim, something he preaches to his team about every day.

“We always kind of go by the most aggressive team that gets to the free-throw line will most likely be the winner,” Evans said. “We kind of wanted to turn the tables on them once we noticed that we were in the one-and-one and double-bonus. We wanted to keep attacking and make them play on their heels.”

Texas Tech went 26 of 38 from the free throw line at the win, as the aggression clearly paid off. Nevada, meanwhile, had just 17 opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting 14.

Texas Tech is off this weekend due to finals, but they'll be featured on the back end of a doubleheader on December 13th against Kennesaw State, a contest that will follow the Lady Raiders' matchup with Prairie View A&M that begins at 5:30.

Volleyball rolling in the NIVC tourney

The Red Raider volleyball team, led by coach Tony Graystone, took huge strides forward this year by clinching their first winning season since 2001. Now, they’re on a hot streak in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship tournament, the volleyball equivalent to the NIT.

After besting TCU for the third time this season in the NIVC semifinals on Thursday night, they'll take on the winner of Ole Miss-West Virginia for the tournament crown.

This season has shown that Coach Graystone and his team are making major progress back towards relevancy, and an NIVC title would certainly set this young team up for major success in 2018.

Ole Miss and West Virginia face off on Saturday afternoon at 4:30. Tech will head to Morgantown or Oxford - depending on the winner - for the finale on Tuesday night at 6.

Batson reminded team to finish strong following TCU loss

The seniors on the Texas Tech football team certainly didn't leave Jones AT&T Stadium on a high note. The Red Raiders dropped the home finale against TCU in rough fashion, bowl eligibility still hanging in the balance at 5-6 as the Red Raiders readied to head to Austin.

Senior wide receiver Cameron Batson - who spoke to the local media on Tuesday afternoon - said he addressed the team following the loss to the Horned Frogs and didn’t hide his emotions.

“We didn’t play well at all,” Batson said Tuesday. “I just stood up in front of the team and asked them, ‘Just give it your all one more time. It’s the last time I’ll be able to play for Texas Tech, so I want to go out with a win, want to go out on top.’ That was my message to those guys.”

The team did just that, as Batson hauled in the biggest catch of the year with less than two minutes to go. It ended up being the game-winning touchdown reception – his only catch of the night.

Safety Jah’Shawn Johnson and center Paul Stawarz noted that the senior's plea didn't fall on deaf ears.

“We took it to heart,” Johnson said. “He shed a few tears. We knew it was his senior day and we didn’t perform well. It was the last time for those guys to be out there in the Jones, and we didn’t give him our best performance, so he challenged us to give it all we had that week in practice and go out and do what you’ve got to do to get the win for that game.”

Can Whitaker and the Lady Raiders turn it around?

Women’s basketball coach Candi Whitaker has not had a winning season since she arrived as head coach at Texas Tech.

Based on the results so far this fall, it appears that won't change this season. The Lady Raiders have dropped four straight games, their latest coming in the form of a road loss to New Mexico, 90-56.

Whataker's career record is now an overall 51-80 with a Big 12 tally of 13-59. Throughout the past few years, the Lady Raiders have seen the likes of Japreece Dean and others to transfer schools as well.

So, it's worth wondering if the end is near for the head coach's tenure at Texas Tech.

The schedule should ease up here for a few weeks, but Big 12 play is looming on the horizon, and things don't appear to be on track to make much noise in-conference so far.

What will the Red Raiders see from USF?

After being fired at Texas following last season, Charlie Strong took over as head coach at South Florida this fall. In his first year in the position, he was able to lead the Bulls to a 9-2 record, falling to only Houston and UCF during the regular season. Much of that success came as a direct result of USF's running game, which the Red Raiders will see live and in-person at the Birmingham Bowl.

Defensive lineman Mych Thomas said the Bulls are a running team and play physical football up front. Jah'Shawn Johnson noted that they're making sure to emphasize run defense in practice leading up to the game, as USF will commit their resources to getting after it on the ground.

“He’s a great player,” Johnson said. “They’re a physical team. They like to run the ball and they do it well. They’ve been playing great all season ... It’ll be a great challenge for us and that’s what we want to end the season.”

The player Johnson is referring to is dynamic, dual-threat senior quarterback Quinton Flowers. He tossed for 2,600 yards on 171 completions on 320 attempts. On the ground, Flowers ran the ball 182 times for 972 yards. He threw for 21 touchdowns and rushed for 10.

The Bulls will certainly give Tech some looks they haven't seen this year in the Big 12, as there wasn't really a running quarterback of Flowers' caliber in the conference this fall.

Texas Tech will return to the top 25 sooner than later

This prediction is one that should come into play after Tech's big win over Nevada on Tuesday, and possibly this next week. That rebound from the Seton Hall loss - in addition to the steamrolling they put on Northwestern a few weeks back - should give them enough street cred to find their way back in to the AP Poll.

Even if Tech doesn't get in this next week, there are four nonconference games on tap for the Red Raiders that should all end up as Ws. They should be sitting at 11-1 when Baylor comes to town for the Big 12 opener on December 29th.

I have the Red Raiders returning to the No. 22 spot sitting behind Seton Hall at No. 21 and one ahead of their last opponent, Nevada.