Red Raiders’ climb from last to last in is suddenly possible
It would have been understandable had Texas Tech players looked at the standings a few weeks ago and decided this season was a lost cause.
In decades of coaching, Tech’s Mark Adams had seen things like that happen. Eight-game losing conference losing streaks can sap the will of veteran teams. So too can injuries and inexperience and pretty much everything else that can go wrong.
The Red Raiders even saw their 29-game winning streak end at United Supermarkets Arena.
Except the Red Raiders (16-12, 5-10 Big 12) have healed and regrouped, although an NCAA Tournament bid remains a longshot. That said, a Saturday home win over No. 24 TCU (18-10, 7-8) would move Tech another step closer to the tournament bubble, the netherworld of uncertainty on Selection Sunday. ESPN’S Joe Lunardi has Tech among the “next four out” in his latest bracket projection.
“Yeah, a little surprised,” Adams said of his team’s resiliency. “So appreciative of our players. There’s so many teams that when you start off 0-8 that you just throw in the towel, and this team hasn’t done that.
“We’ve seen improvement even though we were 0-8. Guys were getting better, it just wasn’t showing up in the win-loss column. Now it is, and our challenge is to keep growing.”
Tech has won four straight games to keep its hope alive. Three of those victories came against teams currently projected into the NCAA field — Kansas State, Texas and West Virginia.
“This will be a huge game and they get bigger, the closer you get to March,” Adams said of TCU. “We’ve set the table with these four wins in a row and at least kind of put us back in position
that we’ve got a chance — maybe. To get back to the NCAA Tournament, we’ve got to keep winning.”
It might be an oversimplification but one significant change for Tech has simply been getting healthy. Fardaws Aimaq, expected to be an impact transfer at 6-11, missed 21 games with a foot injury. In the seven games he’s played, he’s averaging 11.0 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Aimaq has also strengthened two areas, rebounding and protecting the rim, while showing a deft passing touch for a big man.
“For me, personally, just trying to do whatever I need to do to help our team win,” Aimaq said after recording his second consecutive double-double in a win over Oklahoma earlier this week.
Freshman guard Pop Isaacs (11.7 ppg) just returned from a six-game absence with an ankle injury.
As much as Tech is focused on TCU, the big picture question is what has to happen to make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season — not counting the Covidcancelled tournament in 2020.
A win over TCU would certainly help. A victory at Kansas next week would be huge but also carries a huge degree of difficulty. The Red Raiders also probably need a win over Oklahoma State to close the regular-season, followed by at least two victories if not three at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Red Raiders currently have an NCAA Net ranking of 49, thanks to playing an astronomical 14 Quad 1 games. The total could approach 20 counting the Big 12 tournament.
“It’s highly unusual, the incredible success from top to bottom of the Big 12,” said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’S senior vice president for basketball, during
a visit to Dallas. “It’s a challenge for the committee to assess all 10 teams. They really assess all 10 teams as essentially independents, not as members of a specific conferences.
“You’re looking at an overall body of work that includes so many Quad 1 games.”
While the ceiling for atlarge teams to reach the NCAA Tournament is 15 losses, Tech probably can’t afford more than 14, including the conference tourney.
There’s also the question of how the selection committee will weigh the improvement since the return of Aimaq.
Plus, beating TCU is hardly a given. The Horned Frogs have lost five of their last six games and seen hopes of a top four seed pretty much disappear. Like Tech, TCU is healthy now.
“We expect them to come in hungry and aggressive and probably angry,” Adams said.