Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders On The Road For Two-Game Trip
December 19, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2000
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Texas Tech hits the road over the Holidays to play Oral Roberts and Texas Christian. Texas Tech will face-off against Oral Roberts in Tulsa at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 21 and then travel to Fort Worth on Dec. 28 to battle the TCU Horned Frogs. Texas Tech will play TCU in the Tarrant County Convention Center as part of the Forth Worth Shootout at 7:30 p.m.. The Texas Lady Longhorns and the TCU Lady Horned Frogs will open the shootout at 5 p.m. Tech's game with TCU will be carried on ESPN.
The Coaches
Texas Tech head coach James Dickey enters the game with a 161-109 record over 10 seasons in Lubbock. Oral Roberts Head Coach Scott Sutton is 16-23 in his second season at the helm of the Golden Eagle program. Sutton is the son of Oklahoma State Head Coach Eddie Sutton. James Dickey is 1-0 against the younger Sutton after beating Oral Roberts last season in Lubbock.
Noting Texas Tech
Texas Tech enters Thursday's game against Oral Roberts with two players averaging in double figure scoring. In addition, three more players are dropping in at least 9.0 points per game. Andy Ellis leads the team with 15.9 points, while Cliff Owens is second with 13.0 points per game. Jamal Brown and Andre Emmett are averaging 9.6 and 9.1 points, respectively, while Jayson Mitchell adds 9.0 points per game. Six different Red Raiders have led or tied for the team scoring lead in the first seven games. Mitchell added his name to the list in the Indiana Classic against Western Michigan. Ellis has led the team four times, while Owens and Brown have led twice each. Ronald Hobbs and Emmett have each led once.
Inside Attack
Texas Tech's inside duo of senior Cliff Owens and junior Andy Ellis have been extremely hot eight games into the 2000-01 season. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night, the two combined for 40 of Tech's 80 points. Andy Ellis led the way with 21 points while Owens finished with 19. On the season, Ellis is averaging 15.9 points per-game while Owens is at 13.0.
Raiders vs. Oral Roberts
Texas Tech holds a 4-0 advantage over the Golden Eagles following last season's 84-70 win in Lubbock.
Frontcourt Leading the Way
Center Andy Ellis and forward Cliff Owens lead the team in scoring at 15.9 and 13.0 points per game, respectively. Ellis has led the team in scoring in three games, while Owens has led the charge in two games.
Emmett Makes First Career Start
Freshman Andre Emmett made his first career start for the Red Raiders on Monday night against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Emmett replaced senior Jayson Mitchell in the starting lineup against the Islanders. In 22 minutes of action, Emmett put up eight points and grabbed two rebounds. He was 3-7 from the floor and 0-2 from behind the 3-point arc.
Turnovers Proving Costly
Texas Tech committed 18 turnovers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the 86-80 loss on Monday night. Tech had the opportunity to tied the game with 30 seconds left to go but instead committed their most costly turnover of the game. On the season, the Red Raiders have turned the ball over 124 times. Texas Tech has created 132 opponent turnovers to give the Red Raiders a positive margin of 8.
The Over 80 Club
Four times during the 2000-01 season, the Red Raiders have allowed opponents to score more than 80 points and all three of those games have gone down in the loss column for Texas Tech.
Brown Dishing It Up
Red Raider point guard Jamal Brown is doing his job of getting the ball to the right people. Brown leads the team and is second in the Big 12 with 7.8 assists. He is averaging 4.2 turnovers per game and ranks eighth in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio.
Hobbs Settling Comfortably
Sophomore guard Ronald Hobbs appears to have made the transition from high school to college. Hobbs spent last season adjusting to the college game and began coming on during the latter half of the season. He averaged 3.7 points per game a year ago. This season, Hobbs is in the mix of a balanced scoring attack and is averaging 7.6 points per game.
Peaks and Valleys
Cliff Owens has been a streaky player so far this season. After scoring 12 and 19 points in the first two games, Owens managed only four and five in the following two games. In the last three, however, Owens is averaging 13 points per game including a 19 point game against Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Dec. 18.
Shropshire Provides Relief
Just eight games into the season, freshman guard Marcus Shropshire is making positive things happen for Coach Dickey and company. The 6' foot product from Grand Prairie has provided big relief to the Red Raiders coming off the bench. Against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night, Shropshire scored three points and recorded two steals in nine minutes of action.
Hot Early, Cool Late
The Red Raiders appeared to be off on a torrid scoring pace, opening the season with point totals of 82 and 94 in the first two games. Since those two games, the Red Raiders have scored 71 twice and eclipsed the 80-mark twice. The other two games were 54 and 68 points. Tech is 2-4 since opening the season 2-0.
First Half Blues
It has been a tale of two halves for the Red Raiders early in the season campaign. In the game with Ball State on Dec. 8 and the game with TAMU-CC, the Red Raiders found themselves down by at least 10 at the half. Despite greater efforts in the second half in each of these games, the Red Raiders have not yet managed to pull off a win when down by 10 or more at the half. Against UTEP, it was the reverse situation as Tech led by seven at the half but couldn't manage the win.
Double-Double Count
Three Red Raiders have recorded double-doubles this season. Frontcourt players Andy Ellis and Cliff Owens and point guard Jamal Brown each have two double-doubles on the season. Owens tallied both of his in the first two games of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Prairie View and 19 points and 10 boards at UL Lafayette. Ellis scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against UTEP and hit for 10 points and 11 boards against Ball State. Brown got his a different way, doubling up numbers in points and assists in two games. Brown hit for a career-high 23 at UL Lafayette and added 11 assists. He also dished out 11 assists against UTEP and scored 11 points.
Ellis Named to Preseason Teams
Texas Tech junior center Andy Ellis has been tabbed by three college basketball publications as a preseason All-Big 12 selection.
Ellis is listed as a second-team All-Big 12 selection by The Sporting News and Athlon Sports. Street and Smith's has Ellis listed as an All-Big 12 selection along with Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Kimani Ffriend (Nebraska), Drew Gooden (Kansas) and Bernard King (Texas A&M).
Ellis averaged 16.9 points per game and 8.9 rebounds during the 1999-00 season before dislocating his left shoulder against Nebraska in the 14th game of the season that forced him to sit out the remainder of the year.
As a team, the Red Raiders are picked to finish 10th by Street and Smith's, 11th by Athlon Sports and eighth by The Sporting News in the Big 12.
