SB Nation - Alan Voskuil

DTN's Pulse of the Team :: Texas Tech Basketball : Week 1

Seth C — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:15 -0000

The Pulse of the Team is a weekly or whenever-I-get-to-it post about the state of the team. What about the team is trending up (looking great) and what is trending down (a bit worrisome).

Trending Up

Defensive Pressure: I mentioned this on Monday, but thus far, the defensive numbers are quite a turnaround. Last year at this time, the offesne was scoring 176 points and making SportsCenter, but the defensive numbers (those advanced stats I keep talking about) were troubling to say the least. This year it seems to be bit different in that there is a focus and the numbers do play this out. The Red Raiders are holding opponents to a an effective field goal percentage of 41.1% (remember, good is 50% or above and bad is 50% or below). I'd also add that the Red Raiders are holding opponents to a 0.78 points per possession (again, good is 1.00 and anything under that is bad). I know that thus far this is a small sample size, but I think this is certainly an area that's an improvement over last year. I like to celebrate small victories.

JUCO Presence: There's always two thoughts regarding JUCO players in that the player shouldn't be signed because said player can only offer 2 years of eligibility and most likely, one of those years will be spent adjusting to Big 12 play, if he contributes at all. Another thought would be that if the player is truly talented, then he'll rise to the top and contribute immediately. There's certainly a bit of trepedation in signing a JUCO player and thus far, the three major newcomers, G David Tairu, SF Brad Reese and SF Theron Jenkins have combined for 22 points, 6 boards and 3 assists a game. It's understandable to be hesitant to accept the fact that some of these guys can play, in part because a perfect example of a player struggling his first year is PF Darko Cohadarevic. Darko seems to have figured some things out over the summer and it's a shame that he only has this year to make a serious contribution, but if 2 of the 3 JUCO juniors can contribute this year and immediately, then I'll be pretty happy with these guys.

Rebounding Just Enough: The rebounding numbers are better, especially the first game, but the defensive rebound percentage sits around 67% and Texas Tech opponents are sitting at 71%. Texas Tech has never rebounded with the Big 12 conference leaders, but I'd like to see this at least on par with the Red Raider opponents. Not awful, but not great either.

Trending Down

Rounding Out the Roster: I haven't had the opportunity to see any action thus far and my thoughts about the team are from merely looking at the numbers and trying to get an idea as to how the team has performed. Take just about everything I write with a grain of salt, however, I'd love to see the minutes spread out a little more. In Texas Tech's win over Oregon State, the two JUCO small forwards, Brad Reese and Theron Jenkins saw a combined 15 minutes and Robert Lewandowski only saw 11 minutes. I know that each and every win is important to Pat Knight, so it's tough to argue with how things are going now, but I want to make sure that guys like Mike Davis, Lew, Jenkins and Reese continue to see healthy minutes and be solid contributors when conference play starts.

Missing Voskuil: Thus far, the Red Raiders are only 12-43 from beyond the 3-point line and you could attribute the loss of Alan Voskuil, last year's 3-point ace. I think I'd be truly concerned about the numbers if the eFG% were a bit more off, but the fact that the team as a whole doesn't seem to be settling for a ton of 3-point shots isn't too bad. G Nick Okorie is still struggling to find his shot, shooting only 16.7% thus far in 2 games, but Okorie seems like one of those guys where once he finds his shot, it sticks with him for quite some time. PG John Roberson is leading the team with 13 3-point shots and making only 4. Not an awful percentage, but I've never felt comfortable with Roberson taking a ton of shots from past the 3-point line or driving in the lane, but has a very good mid-range game.

KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas Tech Red Raiders

BracketCat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:00:27 -0000

Are you still pissed off about Saturday night?

Well, have no fear, because the football team shall be avenged on the hardwood.

Click the jump for a preview of a basketball team with some of the laziest-looking media photos you ever will see, and one whose season prospects don't look so hot...

The Coach

Pat Knight
Third Season (sort of*)

18-26 (7-19)

Knight begins his second full season as the Texas Tech head coach and his ninth season on the Red Raider basketball court.

As a collegiate player and nearly nine seasons as an assistant coach, he was on the sidelines as a player or a coach for 308 of Bob Knight's 902 career wins.

*Knight became the head coach following the 20th game of the 2007-2008 season.

The Departures

Starters

Michael Prince (15.6 minutes per game, 3.8 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game)
Alan Voskuil (35.7 minutes per game, 14.1 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game)

Reserves

Rogdrick Craig (6.7 minutes per game, 2.6 points per game, 0.8 rebound per game)
Tyree Graham (14.3 minutes per game, 3.9 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game)
Esmir Rizvic (10 minutes per game, 1.3 points per game, 1.6 rebound per game)
Damir Suljagic (8.8 minutes per game, 2.4 points per game, 1.5 rebound per game)

The Veterans

		#4 Corbin Ray Sophomore Forward 6-7 \| 225 Katy, Texas Ray saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played seven minutes, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. He played in 17 games during the season, started against Sam Houston State, averaged 5.7 minutes per game and 1.6 points per game for the season, played 14 minutes in the home game against Texas A&M, had a season-high five rebounds over East Central University, and had his best showing in the win over New Mexico, in which he played 10 minutes and scored 10 points, was 4 of 6 from the field, and canned two 3-pointers.

		#5 D'walyn Roberts Junior Forward 6-7 \| 200 Dallas, Texas Roberts started the first 19 games for the Red Raiders; played in each game during the season and had 21 starts; averaged 16.5 minutes per game, four points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game; played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; played 35 minutes at Lamar, made 7 of 8 field goal attempts, and recorded his season-high of 14 points; scored in double figures in six games; was perfect from the free-throw line six times for a combined 13-for-13; registered a double-double in the win over Stephen F. Austin, with 11 points and 11 rebounds; was second on the squad with 21 blocks for the season; and shot .545 from the field for the season.

		#10 Wally Dunn Junior Guard 6-4 \| 194 Midland, Texas Dunn saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played eight minutes, had a rebound and scored 5 points. He played in 14 games during the season as a walk-on, played a season high of 12 minutes against East Central University, scored 16 points on 6 of 8 field-goal attempts and 4 of 5 3-pointers, shot .588 from the field and made .500 of his 3-point attempts, and had no turnovers for the season. Dunn graduated from Midland College, where the Chaparrals were the 2007 NJCAA National Champions. He was a redshirt his freshman season. The team garnered conference championship honors in 2007-2008, and he played in 32 games as a sophomore and averaged 4.3 points per game.

		#15 Robert Lewandowski Sophomore Forward 6-10 \| 240 Overland Park, Kan. The freshman from Blue Valley West High Sschool played and scored in the first game of the season against St. Francis. Lewandowski scored two points, made a block, and had three rebounds in his eight minutes on the court. He played in 32 games for the season and started 19 times; averaged over 15 minutes per game and played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; averaged 6.6 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game for the year; shot .581 from the field for the season; scored in double figures 10 times, with 8 of those games during conference play; recorded his season-best of 20 points at Texas A&M, when he made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and had four rebounds in the game; had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) at Oklahoma State; grabbed 5+ rebounds in 10 games; and led the squad with 23 blocks.

		#21 John Roberson Junior Guard 5-11 \| 165 Plano, Texas Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2009) U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District 7 (2009) Roberson and Alan Voskuil were the only players on the 2008-2009 squad to start each game during the season. He was the leading scorer on the team, with 13.9 points per game, and second on the team with 35 steals for the year. Roberson's 212 assists top the previous single-season mark of 182 assists, set by Jason Martin during the 1995-1996 season. He was the assist leader for the Big 12. His 13 assists at Texas A&M were one shy of Stan Bonewitz's single-game record of 14 assists, set against Fresno State in the 1996-1997 season. Roberson's 6.4 assists per game for the season now are the best among all Red Raiders. His 71 3-pointers rank eighth among all Red Raiders in a single season. His 201 3-point attempts equal Bonewitz's mark in the 1997-1998 season and are fourth on the all-time single-season list. Roberson's 35.2 minutes per game were second on the squad. He played 40 minutes in five games; was second on the squad in free-throw percentage (.829), making 97 of 117 attempts; was perfect from the line in 15 games, totaling 58 for 58; averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in six games; established a career high of eight rebounds at Iowa State; had a double-double performance at Texas A&M, with 13 assists and 20 points; and scored 20+ points in five games. Roberson's 33 points at UTEP were a career-best and made him the 36th Red Raider to score 30 or more points in a game, earning him All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and USBWA All-District 7 honors.

		#23 Nick Okorie Senior Guard 6-1 \| 195 Houston, Texas Okorie started his career as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 19 minutes and scored 16 points. Okorie played in 29 games during the season and had 19 starting spots. He missed four games due to an ankle injury; averaged more than 25 minutes per game and played 30+ minutes in eight games; played 36 minutes at Texas and at Iowa State; was perfect from the free-throw line in nine games, totaling 40 of 40; was third on the team with 21 steals; averaged 3.1 rebounds per game; and grabbed 5+ boards in nine games. His scoring average of 11.3 points per game was fourth among squad members. Okorie scored 15+ points in nine games, with six of those games against conference opponents; sank 10 of 10 free throws and had 17 points against Kansas; scored 24 points at Oklahoma and at Texas; averaged 16.3 points per game over the last 10 games; and started nine times.

		#24 Trevor Cook Senior Forward 6-9 \| 241 Coppell, Texas Legends Classic All-Tournament (2008) Cook was awarded his undergraduate degree in May 2009. He played in 14 games during the season and had eight starts, but missed 19 games due to a back injury. Cook averaged 14 minutes per game and played 25+ minutes in three games, and was perfect from the free-throw line in four games, totaling 16 for 16. His eight rebounds against East Central University equal his top mark from the previous season. He had 13 blocks in his abbreviated season, averaged 7.6 points per game, scored in double figures six times and had 20 or more points in two games. His 24 points against Pittsburgh mark his best scoring performance as a Red Raider, and he was selected to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team for his performances against Pittsburgh and Mississippi State.

		#31 Darko Cohadarevic Senior Forward 6-9 \| 242 Belgrade, Serbia Cohadarevic played his first game as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 12 minutes, grabbed two rebounds and scored four points. Cohadarevic played in 26 games and started twice; averaged nearly 11 minutes per game and had five games in which he played 15+ minutes; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; averaged 2.2 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in five games; scored double figures in three contests; had 12 points against East Central University and against Stephen F. Austin; and scored 10 points and had six rebounds in the win over Texas A&M in the opening round of conference championship play.

		#32 Mike Singletary Junior Forward 6-6 \| 217 Humble, Texas Second Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009) Big 12 Championship All-Tournament (2009) Singletary was one of four players to play in each game during the season. He had four starts and averaged 23.1 minutes per game; played 30+ minutes against six opponents; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; attempted more free throws than all other teammates (187) and made more free throws than all other teammates (136); had three games in which he made 34 of 40 free-throw attempts; was the leading rebounder on the team, with 5.8 boards per game; had three games (Centenary, Kansas and at Iowa State) of 10+ rebounds and 12 games with at least seven rebounds; and had double-double performances against New Mexico, Kansas and at Iowa State. His 12.2 points per game were third on the squad and he scored at least 15 points in 13 games, averaged 18.2 points per game over the final nine games of the season, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team, and gained Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team honors after scoring 60 points in two games (Texas A&M and Missouri). Singletary made 21 of 33 attempts during those two games. He set a Big 12 Championship scoring record with 43 points in the opening round game against Texas A&M (the previous record was 38 points by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State vs. Baylor in 2000). His 43-point game equals Dub Malaise's 1966 performance against TCU as the fourth-highest scoring output in Texas Tech history. Singletary led the biggest rally in Big 12 championship history, erasing the Red Raiders' 21-point, second-half deficit and taking Texas Tech to an 88-83 win over Texas A&M (the previous record was 20 points by Texas two seasons ago). He scored 29 consecutive points for the Red Raiders, with no other Tech player scoring, to become the NCAA's No. 2 consecutive-points scorer, behind Temple's Bill Mlkvy's 54 consecutive points against Wilkes on March 3, 1951.

My thanks to the Texas Tech sports information department for the photos and most of the information for the bios.

The Newcomers

#1 Brad Reese
Junior Forward
6-6 | 189
Laurel Hill, Fla.

Reese played two seasons for Jay Powell at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. He started all 30 games in his first season with the Commodores, played 30 minutes per game, and averaged 16.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game on the 18-12 squad.

Reese was named the Panhandle Conference Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, Reese was named NJCAA Player of the Week (Jan. 7) as he powered GCCC to three wins, which included a pair of 30-point performances. He started 32 of 33 games as a sophomore, and averaged 16.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on the 24-9 squad, which earned him All-Panhandle Conference First Team honors in his second season.

#2 Mike Davis
Freshman Guard
6-2 | 185
Houston, Texas

Davis played for Willie Patrick III as a senior at Phillis Wheatley High School, but previously played at St. Pius X, where the Panthers were in the TAPPS 6A Final Four in his junior year.

As a senior, Davis averaged 24 points per game over four games to lead the Wheatley Wildcats to the Whataburger Tournament title in Fort Worth from Dec. 29-31. He also earned MVP honors at the tournament.

The Wheatley Wildcats were 32-5 in Davis' final season and he was selected Co-MVP for District 22-4A. He averaged 23.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and five assists per game as a senior, and was selected to the TABC All-Region (3) Team, the TABC 2009 All-Star Team and the TABC Class 4-A All-State Team.

#13 David Tairu
Junior Guard
6-3 | 180
Temple Hills, Md.

Tairu played two seasons for Steve Green at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. The Texans (30-5) claimed the NJCAA National Championship in 2007-2008 in Hutchinson, Kan. He was named All-Conference in 2007-2008, averaged 14.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his freshman season, scored in double figures 29 times, led the 2008-2009 squad with 17.5 points per game and a 27-4 season, was named to the National Junior College third-team All-American squad, was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and also named to the Region 5 team, and was selected to the 2009 NJCAA Men's All-Star team.

#20 Theron Jenkins
Junior Forward
6-6 | 211
Flowood, Miss.

Jenkins played two seasons for Marty Cooper at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. In his two seasons, the Indians were 49-13. As a freshman, he played in all 34 games and averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. ICC captured the division, state and regional championships in its 30-4 season.

Jenkins averaged 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and played in all 28 games in his second season. The ICC Indians were 19-9 and won their third-straight north division title for the first time since 1974.

#30 Jaye Crockett
Freshman Forward
6-6 | 186
Clovis, N.M.

Crockett played for J. D. Isler at Clovis High School. The Wildcats were 29-2 in his junior season. The Purple and White completed the season as the Class 5A State Runner-up.

Crockett averaged 20.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game as a junior, and was the only junior named to New Mexico's first-team all-state squad. Clovis won the 2008-2009 district championship on the road at Hobbs.

As a senior, Crockett scored 31 points in his final game to become the second-leading scorer in Clovis High School history. He averaged 29 points and 12 rebounds, and earned all-state first-team honors, as a senior.

The Analysis

Although Texas Tech returns several starters and even more returners, I'm not sure this is a team that many teams in the conference should fear. The chief reason for that is the departure of Alan Voskuil, the sharpshooter who fueled the upset win over Kansas with his many treys.

Now that Voskuil has graduated, it will fall to Mike Singletary to provide most of the Red Raiders' scoring. His ridiculous 43-point outburst against Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament singlehandedly won the game and nearly broke Michael Beasley's/Denis Clemente's Big 12 single-game record.

That game was a freakish deviation from the mean, though, as Singletary only averaged 12.2 points per game and hasn't yet shown that he is capable of being a 25- to 30-point scorer night in and night out. But he will have help in trying, in the form of honorable-mention All-Big 12 point guard John Roberson. Roberson has established himself as one of the best point guards in the league and should provide the Red Raiders with the leadership presence they need in the backcourt to challenge most Big 12 teams.

Guard Nick Okorie and forward Trevor Cook both were banged up at various times last season, but now both are healthy and look to secure starting spots in the Tech lineup. I predict that Robert Lewandowski, an Overland Park native, will step up in the post as the fifth starter, after Tech lost a slew of Eastern European big men to graduation last year.

Predicting the reserves is trickier, and that's one of the reasons I think Tech will struggle in 2009-2010. D'wayln Roberts started several games last season before being demoted, and he seems like a sure bet to net some serious playing time. David Tairu is a highly touted juco prospect who probably will have a big impact, too. But it drops off after that.

Corbin Ray started one or two games, but is not a particularly impressive player. Nor is Darko Cohadarevic, the only remaining Serbian on the roster after the Eastern bloc exodus of 2009, who is Tech's only other sizable, experienced option in the paint.

Tech is so thin that I have penciled in true freshman Mike Davis as the backup point guard, if that tells you anything. Brad Reese, like Tairu, is a juco player who probably will factor in somewhere, but he doesn't really project strongly to a certain position right now. Other players who probably won't be a factor, unless injuries pile up, are Wally Dunn, a walk-on guard of little consequence; Theron Jenkins, and incoming juco forward; and Jaye Crockett, a raw forward fresh out of high school.

Projected Starting Lineup


John Roberson	Nick Okorie	Mike Singletary	Trevor Cook	Robert Lewandowski
1	2	3	4	5

Projected Top Reserves


Mike Davis	David Tairu	D'walyn Roberts	Corbin Ray	Darko Cohadarevic
1	2	3	4	5

The Final Verdict

When your team looks as though it only can field a serious lineup of 7-8 players, in terms of functional, athletic depth, and you play in the Big 12 South, a good season probably is not in your near future. That seems to be the case for Texas Tech. Yes, they showed some drastic improvement at the end of last year — upsetting Kansas at home (a game I greatly enjoyed watching), mounting the frenzied comeback against Texas A&M and nearly knocking off Texas in Austin — but how much of that simply was due to the hot hands of Voskuil and Singletary?

If that's all that it was, Tech will struggle in a deep Big 12 and Pat Knight's seat will be plenty toasty by the end of the season. But if Tech added some underrated pieces and the rest of the team continues to improve, it potentially could move up the pecking order a few notches. I don't see it happening, though. To me, the Red Raiders look like a less talented version of Baylor: a team that is dangerous if it is knocking down the threes, but otherwise is somewhat toothless.

Predicted finish: 10th

Best-case scenario: 8th

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

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Iowa State
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Red Raiders End Season, Lose to Missouri

Seth C — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:38:52 -0000

via espn-i.starwave.com

Red Raiders Knocked Out

Texas Tech 60, Missouri 81

Although it was a loss, I thought this deserved it's own post, if nothing else to give an internet high-five or dap to the basketball squad for not ever giving up the entire season.

The Red Raiders were tied as the end of the first half, but just could not keep pace with the Tigers, losing 60-81 (boxscore). LAJ's Jeff Walker, FWST's Lori Dann and the AP's Jeff Latzke all have game stories and the Red Raiders acknowledge that it was Missouri's pressure that eventually wore down the Red Raiders. Here's Alan Voskuil:

"(Missouri’s pressure) took a lot of effort out of us," Tech senior Alan Voskuil said. "That Texas A&M game took every ounce of energy we had. Coming in to face that (pressure), I think in the second half it just started to get to us. We got tired and careless and the game got away from there."

And Pat Knight recognized that his team just wore down:

"We had a chance to add to it and kind of wore out," Tech head coach Pat Knight said. "We were trying to play at a slower pace and be patient. They were actually playing at a slower tempo in the first half than they normally do and I think that helped us.
"We just didn’t have enough in the tank. We had enough for a game and a half, but it started showing toward the end of the first half. We stopped cutting, started settling for jump shots. Usually when kids get tired, the easiest thing to take is a jump shot. We kid of started settling instead of putting pressure on them."

My casual observations:

The first half was very calculated and low scoring, which I thought was perfect. Mizzou didn't have any opportunities to run, and Texas Tech kept the turnovers to a minimum and if there were turnovers, Mizzou didn't have the opportunity to run.
Nick Okorie (13 PTS; 3 RB; 1 TO) fouling out so early really affected this team, especially with Alan Voskuil (6 PTS; 3 RB; 7 AST; 1 TO) and John Roberson (8 PTS; 3 RB; 7 AST; 5 TO) struggling. Without a true third ball-handler, Missouri just cranked up the press.
I said before the game that the Red Raiders needed some production from the big men and that really didn't happen. It was a relatively small lineup all game and I think this is why the team was out-rebounded. Pat Knight played Darko Cohadarevic 18 minutes and the stat sheet shows that he only had 3 TO's but I could swear he was responsible for more than that, including inopportune passes to unsuspecting teammates. PK was playing Darko at the top of the key, and the thinking was that he could distribute the ball to the wing after making something happen, and I just don't think that Darko is that type of player.
Mike Singletary (17 PTS; 8 RB; 2 TO) returned to earth and if anything, I hope that this tournament is a springboard to next year, including Singletary working on a jumpshot, which would make him an incredible offensive threat. We'll get more into what these guys should be working on later, but improving ball-handling would be huge for Singletary.

I've noticed a few of these charts on some other websites and thought I'd try and add them this morning.

Texas Tech Player Impact:

NCAA Basketball Stats

And for those of you who did not catch the game, here's the Game Flow:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Texas Tech: Know Your Rival (quickly)

Bill C. — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:00:10 -0000

I don't know if I actually know how to throw together one of these previews quickly (once I get started, it soon goes to 'full-sized preview'), but I'm going to try. Lots going on today.

First, a quick look back at the first MU-TT meeting, a 97-86 Mizzou win (one of the closer games at Mizzou Arena this season). Tech's offense (1.04 points per possession) and offensive rebounding kept them in the game, but Mizzou was too efficient (1.17 points per possession) and forced too many turnovers (29) for Tech to keep up. DeMarre Carroll scored 27, and JT Tiller (who, it's safe to say, will now be matched up with Mike Singletary anytime they're both on the court) had 7 thefts. Robert Lewandoski led a balanced Tech attach (five guys in double figures).

In other words, Tech's size matched Mizzou's pressure for a while, and they match up relatively well with the Tigers.

vs Big 12
Texas Tech: 4-13

	Tech	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.85	1.99
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.04	1.12
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.30	1.40
2-PT FG%	47.2%	50.8%
3-PT FG%	37.3%	35.6%
FT%	74.8%	73.1%
True Shooting %	55.3%	57.3%

	Tech	Opp
Assists	243	219
Steals	89	134
Turnovers	247	211
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.34	1.67

	Tech	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds	208	208
Offensive Rebounds	169	192
Difference	-39	-16

Where Tech's good: 3-point shooting, Defensive Rebounding.
Where Tech's not as good: Defense, Offensive Rebounding (other than the first Mizzou game).

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
Alan Voskuil (Sr)	15.50	0.41	13.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.8 APG
John Roberson (So)	13.74	0.38	13.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 6.8 APG, 1.0 SPG
Mike Singletary (So)	13.23	0.60	13.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG
Nick Okorie (Jr)	10.02	0.39	11.8 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.5 APG
Robert Lewandowski (Fr)	7.97	0.39	8.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Michael Prince (Sr)	4.77	0.27	3.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG
D'Walyn Roberts (So)	3.55	0.29	2.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Rodrick Craig (Sr)	1.25	0.19	3.1 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Wally Dunn (So)	1.25	1.67	3 minutes
Damir Suljagic (Sr)	0.94	0.09	2.6 PPG, 1.5 RPG
Esmir Risvic (Sr)	0.82	0.08	1.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Darko Cohadarevic (Jr)	0.16	0.02	2.2 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Corbin Ray (Fr)	0.15	0.03	0.6 PPG
Trevor Cook (Jr)	-3.34	-0.37	9 minutes

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

What happens when you average 11 points per conference game, then put up a total in the mid-40s? Your average goes up by about two points per game. Suddenly, not only are Voskuil and Roberson averaging in the 13's...so is Singletary.
Singletary's been a shot in the arm all year with his 0.60 AdjGS/min.
Tech seems to either be a big, good rebounding, bad offensive team with guys like Lewandoski, Suljagic and Risvic in the lineup; or they can be a small, four-guard, offensively efficient, poor rebounding team with Voskuil, Roberson, Okorie and Singletary all in the game. Pat Knight has a decision to make--does he go big to try to maximize the rebounding advantage, or does he go small to limit the turnovers?

Keys to the Game

Foul Trouble. Tech has proven they can beat just about anybody when one of their perimeter players gets smoking hot. That goes for just about any team in a major conference team, really, but the fact that two different players (Voskuil, Singletary) have gotten really hot in the last three games shows that Tech is dangerous in their unpredictability.

For Mizzou, the key to stopping Tech will simply be keeping J.T. Tiller and Zaire Taylor out of foul trouble. They are great perimeter defenders--better than anybody ATM has--and they should (should--it's not a guarantee) be able to keep one of Tech's guards from getting hot from long range. But if Tiller picks up two quick fouls, and if the perimeter officiating is super-tight, this could be a problem.

Then again, it could also be a problem for Tech. Singletary averages 0.11 fouls per minute. If he's either not hot or on the bench with foul trouble, then Mizzou can focus more on Voskuil (or maybe Roberson...whoever's hottest).
The 3-pointer. If Tech goes 15-for-25 from 3-point range, they have a very good shot of beating Missouri. If they go 7-for-22, they don't. If Mizzou goes 9-for-17, they win. If they go 4-for-18, they might not.

Actually, that goes for more than just 3-point shooting. Mizzou's shooting is contagious--when one person gets hot, everybody does. Tech doesn't have nearly the interior defense that a Kansas or Texas A&M does, and if Mizzou gets looks inside and makes them, that usually opens up the outside shot. If they're forced out of their comfort zone and start laying bricks, Tech's going to hang around. And you don't want a streaky-shooting team to hang around.
Turnovers. Always. Tech had 29 turnovers last time these two teams played. Get that number under 20, and they might have won.

Prediction

It seems that about 80% of basketball success is confidence, and there's no questioning that Tech is more confident right now than at any point in the season. Combine that with the fact that they were competitive in Columbia about six weeks ago, and you could say Mizzou's in for a battle.

Really, though, more than confidence this game is about margin for error. Mizzou has a lot more of it. If Tech limits their turnovers, and somebody gets hot from long range, and they rebound well, they can beat Mizzou. If Mizzou plays their game on offense and limits open looks, they will beat Tech. Mizzou 81, Tech 73.

Texas Tech Thursday Morning Notes - Just In A Zone Edition

Seth C — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:44:30 -0000

So, I leave to go watch the Mavs vs. Blazers during halftime, come back to the computer for what I thought was a halftime and the computer wasn't working. Completely shut down. Take a big breath, step away, and hope everything is okay. Didn't want to turn on. At this point, I decided to turn off the lights, let it go and hope that everything is okay in the morning. Turned on the light this morning and when my wife was using the computer earlier in the evening and when she pulled it foward, she accidentally unplugged it. To answer your question, yes, I'm not smart enough to check for that before I went to bed.

So, now I missed what was the greatest comeback and single-game performance of a Texas Tech player.

Texas Tech Upsets Texas A&M

Texas Tech 88, Texas A&M 83

via espn-i.starwave.com

An incredible comeback, after scoring only 29 points in the first half, the Red Raiders, namely Mike Singletary, scored 59 points in the second half (boxscore). Tremendous effort from Singletary. You can go here to watch the press conference under G4 where Alan Voskuil and Mike Singletary talked about the win and Pat Knight was incredibly proud of his players.

LAJ's Jeff Walker has the game story and here's Pat Knight:

"I have to say, these guys have got two things — they’ve got heart and they’ve got cahones. I think I can say that without getting into trouble," Knight said.
"That’s what this team has. I don’t care what the record is, this team has those two things. I’m proud of them. I can’t say anything more than that. To come back like that, against a good team like that just says everything about these guys."

And Mike Singletary:

"I was just in a zone, I think," the sophomore forward said. "My teammates kept getting me the ball. We didn’t want to lose this game. We didn’t want to go home. We kept fighting hard and getting stops and most of my shots just kept going in."

Pretty incredible line:

Mike Singletary:
14-20 FG; 3-4 3PT; 12-14 FT; 6 RB; 1 AST; 3 TO; 43 PTS

Pretty good stuff from ESPN's Mark Schlabach about how Singletary single-handedly outscored the Aggies and FWST's Lori Dann has a game story as well.

Texas Tech's Pro-Day

DT's Adam Coleman writes about Texas Tech's Pro-Day which starts at 1:00 p.m. today:

It is not official how many former Tech players will participate for scouts at Pro Day. More possible athletes include Harrell, offensive lineman Stephen Hamby, safety Daniel Charbonnet and receiver Eric Morris.
Tech athletics officials are expecting more scouts than usual to attend this year's Pro Day.

Last year, two scouts - one from the Carolina Panthers and another from the Dallas Cowboys - attended Tech's Pro Day.

Athletes will be expected to do the same drills done at the Combine: the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, 3-Cone drill, broad jump and the 20 and 60-yard shuttles.

Also, I didn't really have any place to put this, but here's some Fox34 video of Leach sitting in a big leather chair, talking about the hiring of La. Tech's Eric Russell as special teams coach and moving Clay McGuire to running backs coach.

Aaron Spikes Commits

LAJ's Don Williams reports that Pinkston running back Aaron Spikes has committed to Texas Tech bringing the total to 5 commits thus far for the Red Raiders. Here's Spikes and his current offers, as well as needing to get his grades up:

"I liked the environment,’’ he said. "I felt comfortable there. I just liked the whole school. … I’m a Texas boy, so I was a big fan of Texas Tech. I was a huge fan, following them this year.’’
Spikes had scholarship offers from TCU and Kansas State and said West Virginia, Penn State and Pittsburgh are among the other schools who have been recruiting him.

Spikes said he has a 2.8 grade-point average and a 15 on ACT. He plans to retake the latter, needing to score two points higher to meet freshman eligibility requirements.

And here's Aaron's profile which is on the left sidebar:

Aaron Spikes

Position: RB
Rivals Profile
Scout Profile
ESPN Profile
Ht: 5'10"
Wt: 185 lbs
Forty: 4.45 secs
High School: Pinkston (Dallas, TX)

Red Raiders Drop Another Game to DBU

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Dallas Baptist Starting Pitcher	Result
3/11/2009	3:00 p.m.	Nate Karns (L, 0-2)	Victor Black (W, 2-0)	2-11

*Click on the score for boxscore.

This pitching staff is in a bad way right now unless it's Miles Morgan, AJ Ramos or Chad Bettis. Nate Karns (5.1 IP; 3 H; 3 ER; 5 BB; 2 SO) was okay, but the bullpen was just awful. Lorenzo Douglas (0.2 IP; 2 H; 3 ER; 3 BB; 0 SO) and Cory Large (0.1 IP; 4 H; 3 ER; 1 BB; 1 SO) were pretty bad, and the offense wasn't much better managing only 6 hits for the entire game, 2 of them by Jeremy Mayo (2-2). Michael Reed and Scott LeJeune provided the only RBI of the day.

LAJ's George Watson and DT's Mike Graham had their game stories and head coach Dan Spencer does not sound happy:

"We reached (frustrating) a long time ago. We’re beyond that," Spencer said. "We have to go now, without putting somebody at risk as far as their arm, and do what we have to do. There will be a narrower bunch of guys out there."
Snip

"They’re not young guys anymore. These guys have 50 at bats in 15 games. It’s time to turn the page," Spencer said. "It’s going to get worse before it gets better if we don’t figure it out. We have plenty of talent. We have enough talent to compete with anybody and we’ve proven that. But competing and winning and finishing the deal are totally different things and we haven’t proven that yet."

Meanwhile, LAJ's George Watson looks ahead to the Nebraska series which starts on Friday.

Texas Tech Tuesday Morning Notes - Tech's Led For A While Edition

Seth C — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:21:15 -0000

DTN's Top Four:

SB Nation now has two college basketball blogs, Blogging the Bracket and Searching for Billy Edelin.
Blogger So Dear ranks the top college basketball announcers.
A good description of what Tier 1 Status means.
The DMN announces their men's All-Big 12 Basketball Team.

More on Scotty Young

Raider Power's Mark Sparrow has quite a bit more on new Texas Tech commit, quarterback Scotty Young. The interesting thing to me was that Leach had offered three quarterbacks and Leach would take the first one that would commit, which lead to Young's early decision:

"They offered three quarterbacks, and the coaches told me basically that the first one to commit would get the spot. I knew they just recently extended their third offer [to Arlington’s Matt Joeckel], and I thought that he was going to commit pretty soon. Tech’s led for a while now, so I decided to commit."

Can you remember a time when high school players were fighting over who could go to Texas Tech? This is a pretty amazing time in Texas Tech football and it's also nice to hear that with Young, Texas Tech was in the lead and like some of the bigger schools getting commitments so early, Texas Tech is slowly but surely on this path.

Also, as mentioned yesterday by kayakyakr, one of Young's coaches is Zac Harrell, Graham Harrell's older brother, and helped him with his decision:

"Coach Harrell has talked to me a lot about Graham and the school. He’s actually the one who originally got the Texas Tech coaches interested in me. He talked to them about me and then they gave me an offer, my first offer actually.
"[Coach Harrell] just told me about how Graham felt about the school and everything, and that had a big influence on my decision to commit."

Young's numbers last year were spectacular, to say the least (via MaxPreps, and actual game totals at link):

Comp	Att	Yds	Y/G	Comp%	TD	Int
289	458	4,495	345.8	.631	65	11

More Spring Previews

The STLToday takes a look at each of the Big 12 teams and what to look for during spring practices and here's Texas Tech's generic write-up:

All eyes on: The Red Raiders will try to replace the prolific duo of QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree. Junior QB Taylor Potts has been waiting in the wings to lead Mike Leach's pass-happy offense, and there is a stable of able receivers to replace Crabtree, who left early for the NFL.

Voskuil Talks About College Life

NewsOK sat down with a short interview with Alan Voskuil:

What’s one thing most people don’t know about college athletes? "How hard it is to perform in the classroom and on the court. It’s like a full-time job. If you’re not in class, you’re on the court. If you’re not on the court, you’re in the classroom or studying for it."
What would you do if you were not playing sports in college? "Probably studying somewhere in business or sports management. Just be a normal person going to school. I’d be spending a lot more time in the classroom, getting better grades."

It's the Rock M Nation Weekly Podcast! On a Monday!

Bill C. — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:02:35 -0000

Our schedules are all sorts of messed up this week, what with trips to Oklahoma and color consultations on the horizon, so rptgwb and I sat down tonight to crank through what constitutes a Big 12 Tournament Preview podcast of sorts. Along the way, our topics include...

A new theme song!
A 'name this podcast' contest (okay..."contest" suggests there's a winner of sorts--we'll just say a 'we need help naming this podcast' plea).
The Boy rambling pointlessly about the NCAA Tourney committee
Texas's identity crisis
ATM's split personality
Acceptance that Baylor is bad and Oklahoma State is good
Coin tosses
Hints at a Meme Madness
The evil that is Cole Aldrich
Blake Griffin's 40 & 25 in the Big 12 finals
Much, much more! (Seriously, we went on forever.)

Direct mp3 download link

Be on the lookout for a SECOND podcast later this week, but in the meantime, we need help naming this thing!

Texas Tech Monday Morning Notes - Happy Birthday Captain Leach Edition

Seth C — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:37:16 -0000

It gives me great pleasure to wish both Captain Mike Leach and myself a Happy Birthday today. I find it no coincidence that the Captain and I share the same birthdate and was quite worried, in what seems like years, but was only a month, that the Captain would be leaving Lubbock for smoother seas. Alas, that time has passed and we have moved onward and upward to bigger and better things.

From the entire DTN crew, we wish you a Happy Birthday and I hope you enjoy wome Wynton Marsalis improvising Happy Birthday (the Captain seems like a Jazz/Marsalis sort of guy to me):

Spring Previews

CFN's Pete Fiutak previews the Big 12 teams heading into spring and has this to say about your Red Raiders:

The most important position to watch is . . . Quarterback. So who gets to be the newest national statistical star? Taylor Potts was a good recruit a few years ago and has been around long enough to be able to hit the ground running. However, he won’t have Crabtree to throw to. Detron Lewis has the makings of a No. 1 target, while Edward Britton and Lyle Leong are two of the good targets who should be able to do more with more responsibility.
Spring attitude . . . Don’t accept anything less than another double-digit win season. The program has to take on the attitude that it’s one of the regular players in the Big 12 title race, and it’ll get time to rebuild before the finishing kick. There are only two road games in the first eight, at Houston and Nebraska, to go along with the nasty games at Texas, at Oklahoma State, and against Oklahoma.

Fiutak also asks if the Big 12 was overrated last year but also compiles a few lists (who doesn't love a list?) and Taylor Potts is the top player, according to Fiutak, that needs a big spring and thinks the Red Raiders finish 6th in 2009.

All-Big 12 Team

The All-Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards were released and sophomore guard John Roberson and senior guard Alan Voskuil were honorable mention. I was sorta hoping that Voskuil would make the third team or Lewandowski would make the Big 12 All-Rookie Team, but it just didn't happen, and rightfully so.

Red Raiders Lose to #24 Oregon St.

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3/3/2009	4:00 p.m.	Lorenzo Douglas (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Matt Larkins (W, 1-0)	8-9
3/5/2009	12:00 a.m.	Nate Karns (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Paul Bargas (W, 1-1)	5-9
3/6/2009	8:00 p.m.	Miles Morgan (L, 1-2)	San Francisco	Doug Murray (W, 2-0)	1-2
3/7/2009	10:00 a.m.	AJ Ramos (W, 2-0)	Gonzaga	Ryan Carpenter (L, 2-1)	7-1
3/8/2009	10:00 a.m.	Jordan Stern (L, 0-1)	Oregon State	Nick Stiltner (W, 1-0)	6-9

*Click on the score for boxscore.

Texas Tech 6, Oregon State 9

Here's the lead sentence from the recap from yesterday's loss to Oregon State:

A meltdown by the Texas Tech bullpen in the seventh spelled doom for the Red Raiders as No. 24 Oregon State rallied for four runs and held on for a 9-6 win on Sunday afternoon at the Palm Springs Invitational.

Let's hope that playing closer to home will help this squad and this team was able to learn a little about each other on this very long road trip. Robert Kilcrease (3.0 IP; 6 H; 5 ER; 1 BB; 2 SO) got the start for Texas Tech and seemed to struggle to get people out. And yes, the bullpen did struggle, especially Jordan Stern (0.1 IP; 0 H; 2 ER; 2 BB; 0 SO), who earned the loss but Ben Flora (0.0 IP; 0 H; 1 ER) and Brian Cloud (2.0 IP; 1 H; 1 ER; 1 BB; 3 SO) also allowed late runs to cross the plate late.

The Red Raiders managed 12 hits for the day, led by Joey Kenworthy (3-5) and Chris Richburg (1-4; 3 RBI) who hit his 5th homerun of the year.

Texas Tech Sunday Morning Notes - They Didn't Fall Edition

Seth C — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:53:21 -0000

Texas Tech Loses to Iowa State

Texas Tech 76, Iowa State 78

I must admit that I have not had the opportunity to watch this game. The wife demanded that I do some work around the yard yesterday and considering yesterday was a decent day outside, other than the wind, I didn't argue much.

Back to the game, it appears that Texas Tech had two chances late to win the game, including a Mike Singletary and a John Roberson 3-point attempt to win the game (boxscore). The only story I could find this morning is from the AP and the game sounds like the typical game with Texas Tech this year. Rough start, storm back OR start strong, fade late. Here's Pat Knight on the loss:

"This is kind of the way our season has been going. We get two open looks at the end and they didn't fall," Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said.

Persusing the boxscore, it's strange. A game after Alan Voskuil hits anything and everything, he only gets 5 shots and scores 3 points. Damir Suljagic got the start and was servicable offensively with 8 points, but had 0 rebounds in 19 minutes. Mike Singletary was okay offensively, 3-9 from the field, but was a beast on the boards with 12 rebounds. John Roberson had a good line with 23 points, 8 boards, 5 assists and 2 turnovers. ISU's Brian Petersen, who was averaging 6 points a game, went off for 20 points, and only shot 3-pointers all game long. Probably should have jumped out on Petersen before 11 3-point shots.

Up next are the Aggies in the Big 12 Tournament and TAMU has been incredibly hot, beating what I thought/think was the best team in the Big 12, Missouri, easily. The Aggies will have something to play for, although I think they've already punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament.

Losing Streak Ends

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3/3/2009	4:00 p.m.	Lorenzo Douglas (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Matt Larkins (W, 1-0)	8-9
3/5/2009	12:00 a.m.	Nate Karns (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Paul Bargas (W, 1-1)	5-9
3/6/2009	8:00 p.m.	Miles Morgan (L, 1-2)	San Francisco	Doug Murray (W, 2-0)	1-2
3/7/2009	10:00 a.m.	AJ Ramos (W, 2-0)	Gonzaga	Ryan Carpenter (L, 2-1)	7-1
3/8/2009	11:30 a.m.	-	Oregon State	Jorge Reyes (2-0, 2.25)	-

*Click on the score for boxscore.

Texas Tech 7, Gonzaga 1

Fanally, the end of the losing streak and pitcher AJ Ramos led this team a win. Could not have happened at a better time (recap). Ramos (6.0 IP; 3 H; 0 ER; 0 BB; 9 SO) was incredibly efficient and Chad Bettis (3.0 IP; 5 H; 1 ER; 1 BB; 1 SO) earned the save. I'm trying to figure out why Bettis didn't start the game, why he's not starting today, and I have no idea who will pitch today. I'm wondering if Bettis has been moved to the bullpen for all save situations, which would be okay, but I hate the fact that you may have taken away the teams best long-term starter from a starting role. Hopefully LAJ's George Watson will have a little more on this later in the week.

Offensively, short stop Joey Kenworthy (3-4; 2 RBI) led the way offensively and catcher Jeremy Mayo (2-4; 2 RBI; 1 HR) hit his first homerun of the year

Texas Tech Friday Morning Notes - Weren’t Going To Let That Happen Edition

Seth C — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:30:07 -0000

Big 12 Quarterback Battles

ESPN's Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin writes about which quarterbacks should be worried about their job and Taylor Potts comes in behind 5 Big 12 starters from last year (Bradford, McCoy, Griffin, Reesing and Robinson):

6. Taylor Potts, Texas Tech -- Mike Leach appears sold on him after 15 career games and 85 passes. But he still needs the activity to develop a better grasp of Leach's offense and work with his receivers.

Seems about right to me, as I think it's his job to lose and Potts is ranked right behind all of last year's starters, and ahead of Arnaud, Iowa State's starter last year.

Non-Conference Games

Who doesn't love a list? Also by Griffin, he ranks the top non-conference matchups in 2009 and Texas Tech's game with Houston checks in at #7:

7. Texas Tech at Houston, Sept. 26: This game will be coming the week after Texas Tech travels to Texas in its first road game. It could be dicey for the Red Raiders, although they won their last two games at Houston against the Cougars in the final days of the Southwest Conference. Tech averaged 45 points per game in those games -- and that was long before Mike Leach had taken over the program. I'm expecting a shootout in this one with both teams combining for more than 1,000 yards.

Tim notes that there's one big omission from the list:

That's right. Maybe that's why Texas is ranked as the conference's top team coming into the season.
But the Longhorns assuredly won't get much BCS bounce from a quartet of nonconference games featuring Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP and Central Florida.

Mack Brown better hope the South Division is as tough as usual in 2009. Because he's not going to get much sympathy in a head-to-head comparison with most other national powers when nonconference schedules are compared.

Red Raiders Motivated?

LAJ's Jeff Walker writes this morning that the Red Raiders were slightly motivated as Kansas guard Sherron Colllins' comments prior to the game:

"It’s a great feeling to clinch on the road," Collins said in Wednesday’s editions of the Kansas City Star. "You do it on the road, you get to celebrate in somebody else’s locker room."

And Alan Voskuil didn't want to let that happen:

"It was just a feeling we had," Voskuil said. "After we came in and heard what Collins said, that he couldn’t wait to celebrate in our locker room, we weren’t going to let that happen. That just kind of fired us up and we said right there that we were going to win this game."

Previewing Iowa State

DT's Alex Ybarra previews Saturday's game against Iowa State and Pat Knight wants the team to build on Wednesday night's win:

"Now we just gotta build on this in the future," Knight said. "This is a great foundation for our first year - Senior game, being able to beat a team like (Kansas) - and now we can use this to build upon. It's just gotta be a springboard for us from here on out."

And Mike Singletary is a little worried about Craig Brackins (one more highly rated players in the country via NBADraft.net and DraftExpress):

"He's a great player," Singletary said of Brackins. "You can see, he can play inside-outside and be that big. He's gonna be a tough matchup. I think we're gonna have something ready for him, and something to slow him down a little bit."

Junior Knight Learning

NY Times Thayer Evans talked with Pat Knight about learning from this tough season:

Knight said he had also leaned this season on Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers, who is the winningest men’s basketball coach in Texas Tech history. Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler and Texas Coach Rick Barnes have also provided support, he said.
"Man, it’s been tough," said Knight, who coached Texas Tech to a 4-7 record last season after his father retired. "We’ve been getting beat down so much that guys are trying to keep my spirits up and make sure I see the big picture instead of just getting so caught up in what’s going on now."

And we should expect a different type of player that what Bob Knight previously recruited:

"Everybody has a different taste who they’re attracted to," Knight said in a telephone interview. "It has to be the same way for players. There’s not like one attribute that I like more than my dad likes, but it is going to be different because I’m a different person."
Added Knight, "If two girls were walking down the street, my dad would probably pick a different one than I would."

Red Raiders Lose 5th Straight

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3/3/2009	4:00 p.m.	Lorenzo Douglas (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Matt Larkins (W, 1-0)	8-9
3/5/2009	12:00 a.m.	Nate Karns (L, 0-1)	UC Riverside	Paul Bargas (W, 1-1)	5-9
3/6/2009	8:00 p.m.	Miles Morgan (1-1, 6.10)	San Francisco	Paul Bargas (1-0, 4.15)	-
3/7/2009	10:00 a.m.	Chad Bettis (1-0, 3.97)	Gonzaga	Cody Martin (1-0, 1.64)	-
3/8/2009	10:00 a.m.	AJ Ramos (1-0, 0.00)	Oregon State	Jorge Reyes (2-0, 2.25)	-

*Click on the score for boxscore.

Texas Tech 5, UC Riverside 9

This has got to be getting tough for this team as Texas Tech has lost 5 straight games, all on the road, and the biggest problem for this team was a pitching staff that is struggling to throw strikes and 4 errors (recap). Starter Nathan Karns (3.2 IP; 6 H; 4 ER; 3 BB; 3 SO) and Cory Large (3.2 IP; 3 H; 4 ER; 3 BB; 0 SO) struggled to get opponents out and I can imagine that the errors certainly didn't help. Chris Richburg (2-3; 3 RBI) led the way on offense, but this very young team is still struggling to get some consistent offense, and perhaps this team is really starting to show the effect of not having Willie Rueda at the top of the lineup.

		#4 Corbin Ray Sophomore Forward 6-7 \| 225 Katy, Texas Ray saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played seven minutes, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. He played in 17 games during the season, started against Sam Houston State, averaged 5.7 minutes per game and 1.6 points per game for the season, played 14 minutes in the home game against Texas A&M, had a season-high five rebounds over East Central University, and had his best showing in the win over New Mexico, in which he played 10 minutes and scored 10 points, was 4 of 6 from the field, and canned two 3-pointers.

		#5 D'walyn Roberts Junior Forward 6-7 \| 200 Dallas, Texas Roberts started the first 19 games for the Red Raiders; played in each game during the season and had 21 starts; averaged 16.5 minutes per game, four points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game; played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; played 35 minutes at Lamar, made 7 of 8 field goal attempts, and recorded his season-high of 14 points; scored in double figures in six games; was perfect from the free-throw line six times for a combined 13-for-13; registered a double-double in the win over Stephen F. Austin, with 11 points and 11 rebounds; was second on the squad with 21 blocks for the season; and shot .545 from the field for the season.

		#10 Wally Dunn Junior Guard 6-4 \| 194 Midland, Texas Dunn saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played eight minutes, had a rebound and scored 5 points. He played in 14 games during the season as a walk-on, played a season high of 12 minutes against East Central University, scored 16 points on 6 of 8 field-goal attempts and 4 of 5 3-pointers, shot .588 from the field and made .500 of his 3-point attempts, and had no turnovers for the season. Dunn graduated from Midland College, where the Chaparrals were the 2007 NJCAA National Champions. He was a redshirt his freshman season. The team garnered conference championship honors in 2007-2008, and he played in 32 games as a sophomore and averaged 4.3 points per game.

		#15 Robert Lewandowski Sophomore Forward 6-10 \| 240 Overland Park, Kan. The freshman from Blue Valley West High Sschool played and scored in the first game of the season against St. Francis. Lewandowski scored two points, made a block, and had three rebounds in his eight minutes on the court. He played in 32 games for the season and started 19 times; averaged over 15 minutes per game and played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; averaged 6.6 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game for the year; shot .581 from the field for the season; scored in double figures 10 times, with 8 of those games during conference play; recorded his season-best of 20 points at Texas A&M, when he made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and had four rebounds in the game; had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) at Oklahoma State; grabbed 5+ rebounds in 10 games; and led the squad with 23 blocks.

		#21 John Roberson Junior Guard 5-11 \| 165 Plano, Texas Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2009) U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District 7 (2009) Roberson and Alan Voskuil were the only players on the 2008-2009 squad to start each game during the season. He was the leading scorer on the team, with 13.9 points per game, and second on the team with 35 steals for the year. Roberson's 212 assists top the previous single-season mark of 182 assists, set by Jason Martin during the 1995-1996 season. He was the assist leader for the Big 12. His 13 assists at Texas A&M were one shy of Stan Bonewitz's single-game record of 14 assists, set against Fresno State in the 1996-1997 season. Roberson's 6.4 assists per game for the season now are the best among all Red Raiders. His 71 3-pointers rank eighth among all Red Raiders in a single season. His 201 3-point attempts equal Bonewitz's mark in the 1997-1998 season and are fourth on the all-time single-season list. Roberson's 35.2 minutes per game were second on the squad. He played 40 minutes in five games; was second on the squad in free-throw percentage (.829), making 97 of 117 attempts; was perfect from the line in 15 games, totaling 58 for 58; averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in six games; established a career high of eight rebounds at Iowa State; had a double-double performance at Texas A&M, with 13 assists and 20 points; and scored 20+ points in five games. Roberson's 33 points at UTEP were a career-best and made him the 36th Red Raider to score 30 or more points in a game, earning him All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and USBWA All-District 7 honors.

		#23 Nick Okorie Senior Guard 6-1 \| 195 Houston, Texas Okorie started his career as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 19 minutes and scored 16 points. Okorie played in 29 games during the season and had 19 starting spots. He missed four games due to an ankle injury; averaged more than 25 minutes per game and played 30+ minutes in eight games; played 36 minutes at Texas and at Iowa State; was perfect from the free-throw line in nine games, totaling 40 of 40; was third on the team with 21 steals; averaged 3.1 rebounds per game; and grabbed 5+ boards in nine games. His scoring average of 11.3 points per game was fourth among squad members. Okorie scored 15+ points in nine games, with six of those games against conference opponents; sank 10 of 10 free throws and had 17 points against Kansas; scored 24 points at Oklahoma and at Texas; averaged 16.3 points per game over the last 10 games; and started nine times.

		#24 Trevor Cook Senior Forward 6-9 \| 241 Coppell, Texas Legends Classic All-Tournament (2008) Cook was awarded his undergraduate degree in May 2009. He played in 14 games during the season and had eight starts, but missed 19 games due to a back injury. Cook averaged 14 minutes per game and played 25+ minutes in three games, and was perfect from the free-throw line in four games, totaling 16 for 16. His eight rebounds against East Central University equal his top mark from the previous season. He had 13 blocks in his abbreviated season, averaged 7.6 points per game, scored in double figures six times and had 20 or more points in two games. His 24 points against Pittsburgh mark his best scoring performance as a Red Raider, and he was selected to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team for his performances against Pittsburgh and Mississippi State.

		#31 Darko Cohadarevic Senior Forward 6-9 \| 242 Belgrade, Serbia Cohadarevic played his first game as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 12 minutes, grabbed two rebounds and scored four points. Cohadarevic played in 26 games and started twice; averaged nearly 11 minutes per game and had five games in which he played 15+ minutes; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; averaged 2.2 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in five games; scored double figures in three contests; had 12 points against East Central University and against Stephen F. Austin; and scored 10 points and had six rebounds in the win over Texas A&M in the opening round of conference championship play.

		#32 Mike Singletary Junior Forward 6-6 \| 217 Humble, Texas Second Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009) Big 12 Championship All-Tournament (2009) Singletary was one of four players to play in each game during the season. He had four starts and averaged 23.1 minutes per game; played 30+ minutes against six opponents; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; attempted more free throws than all other teammates (187) and made more free throws than all other teammates (136); had three games in which he made 34 of 40 free-throw attempts; was the leading rebounder on the team, with 5.8 boards per game; had three games (Centenary, Kansas and at Iowa State) of 10+ rebounds and 12 games with at least seven rebounds; and had double-double performances against New Mexico, Kansas and at Iowa State. His 12.2 points per game were third on the squad and he scored at least 15 points in 13 games, averaged 18.2 points per game over the final nine games of the season, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team, and gained Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team honors after scoring 60 points in two games (Texas A&M and Missouri). Singletary made 21 of 33 attempts during those two games. He set a Big 12 Championship scoring record with 43 points in the opening round game against Texas A&M (the previous record was 38 points by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State vs. Baylor in 2000). His 43-point game equals Dub Malaise's 1966 performance against TCU as the fourth-highest scoring output in Texas Tech history. Singletary led the biggest rally in Big 12 championship history, erasing the Red Raiders' 21-point, second-half deficit and taking Texas Tech to an 88-83 win over Texas A&M (the previous record was 20 points by Texas two seasons ago). He scored 29 consecutive points for the Red Raiders, with no other Tech player scoring, to become the NCAA's No. 2 consecutive-points scorer, behind Temple's Bill Mlkvy's 54 consecutive points against Wilkes on March 3, 1951.

SB Nation - Alan Voskuil

DTN's Pulse of the Team :: Texas Tech Basketball : Week 1

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KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Coach

The Departures

The Veterans

The Newcomers

The Analysis

Projected Starting Lineup

Projected Top Reserves

The Final Verdict

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

Red Raiders End Season, Lose to Missouri

Red Raiders Knocked Out

Texas Tech 60, Missouri 81

Texas Tech: Know Your Rival (quickly)

vs Big 12Texas Tech: 4-13

Keys to the Game

Prediction

Texas Tech Thursday Morning Notes - Just In A Zone Edition

Texas Tech Upsets Texas A&M

Texas Tech 88, Texas A&M 83

Mike Singletary: 14-20 FG; 3-4 3PT; 12-14 FT; 6 RB; 1 AST; 3 TO; 43 PTS

Texas Tech's Pro-Day

Aaron Spikes Commits

Red Raiders Drop Another Game to DBU

Texas Tech Tuesday Morning Notes - Tech's Led For A While Edition

DTN's Top Four:

More on Scotty Young

More Spring Previews

Voskuil Talks About College Life

It's the Rock M Nation Weekly Podcast! On a Monday!

Texas Tech Monday Morning Notes - Happy Birthday Captain Leach Edition

Spring Previews

All-Big 12 Team

Red Raiders Lose to #24 Oregon St.

Texas Tech 6, Oregon State 9

Texas Tech Sunday Morning Notes - They Didn't Fall Edition

Texas Tech Loses to Iowa State

Texas Tech 76, Iowa State 78

Losing Streak Ends

Texas Tech 7, Gonzaga 1

Texas Tech Friday Morning Notes - Weren’t Going To Let That Happen Edition

Big 12 Quarterback Battles

Non-Conference Games

Red Raiders Motivated?

Previewing Iowa State

Junior Knight Learning

Red Raiders Lose 5th Straight

Texas Tech 5, UC Riverside 9

vs Big 12
Texas Tech: 4-13

Mike Singletary:
14-20 FG; 3-4 3PT; 12-14 FT; 6 RB; 1 AST; 3 TO; 43 PTS