Texas Tech has made three straight NCAA Tournaments, one of which featured the Red Raiders playing in the 2019 national title game. The program has been consistently good. But, unsurprisingly, when the Texas job opened after last season, Chris Beard opted to move from one Big 12 program to the other. So it was fair to wonder if Texas Tech would maintain its success under new coach Mark Adams, which is among the reasons the Red Raiders were unranked in the preseason despite strong computer numbers.
They opened this season with six whatever-wins.
Then they lost at Providence.
But Adams got the first truly significant victory of his Division I head-coaching career on Tuesday night. And that he did it at the age of 65, and inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, is a pretty cool deal regardless of whether the game was a thing of beauty.
Final: Texas Tech 57, Tennessee 52 in OT.
The Red Raiders shot 31.1% from the field, missed 20 of the 24 3-pointers they attempted, finished with nine assists and 15 turnovers, and still beat a top 25-team. That’s because the Vols shot a mere 26.8% from the field and missed 34 of the 40 3-pointers they attempted.
“I don’t know if we can be any worse on offense — and we were in the game,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, trying to find any positive.
With the win, Texas Tech went from unranked to No. 19 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. That, combined with Tennessee dropping from No. 11 to No. 20, pushed North Carolina, Ohio State, Seton Hall, LSU, Wisconsin, Xavier and Colorado State down one spot each, no fault of their own. That means Niko Medved’s undefeated Rams are now essentially No. 27.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
IN: Texas Tech
OUT: Colorado State
