The Morning Stake | 2018.01.11

Texas Tech Tennis

Lady Raider Basketball

Texas Tech Track and Field

Texas Tech Baseball

Texas Tech Basketball

Two Top Ten Teams on Saturday. Do your part and show up.

Power Rankings. SI has their most recent power rankings and has Texas Tech 11th overall:

The Red Raiders went 3–1 across a challenging opening two weeks of Big 12 play, and now their “reward” is getting to host No. 2 West Virginia this weekend (the Big 12 grind never stops!). Texas Tech was unable to take better advantage of a poor first half by Oklahoma star Trae Young on Tuesday, leading by only two at halftime before succumbing to Young and Co. in the second half (and was, it should be noted, playing without senior Zach Smith). The Red Raiders have built much of their success this season on their defense and by creating turnovers, and while they did a pretty good job limiting the Sooners’ talented offense, they didn’t get enough offense themselves outside Keenan Evans to fill in what was needed.

Seven Day Stretch. ESPN’s John Gasaway has an interesting article in that the next seven day stretch will start to sort out the Big 12 race that’s still early at this point, the idea being that Texas Tech can pull into first place with a win against West Virginia:

Nevertheless, West Virginia sits atop the Big 12 at 4-0, the only team undefeated in league play. It’s possible that the one-game lead the Mountaineers now have over KU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma could become a two-game lead within the next week. It would be difficult, but it’s possible.

Next up for Huggins and his men is Saturday’s game against the Red Raiders in Lubbock. West Virginia figures to get a big lift in that game, thanks to the return of Esa Ahmad. The 6-foot-8 junior has been held out of action this season after failing to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. He was the team’s second-leading scorer last season behind Jevon Carter, and Ahmad should help the Mountaineers get more second chances on offense. His return is a boost to a team that is already 15-1 and ranked No. 2 in the AP poll.

Still, the trip to Lubbock, even with Ahmad, doesn’t project to be a walk in the park.

Jones Diagnosed with Leukemia. University of Texas basketball released a statement yesterday that confirmed that Longhorn sophomore guard Andrew Jones has been diagnosed with leukemia and has begun treatment. Think a good thought for the young man.

Texas Tech Football

Dickey Approached for OC Position. A-J Media’s Don Williams via Twitter, reported last night that Texas Tech and Kliff Kingsbury offered the offensive coordinator position to Darrell Dickey, who was the OC at Memphis and was recently hired by Texas A&M as their offensive coordinator. As you know, last night, it was reported that Texas Tech will hire Houston’s defensive backs coach Clay Jennings and Brett Dewhurst from Southeastern Louisiana.

Miscellaneous. Via College Football Talk, Baylor head coach Matt Rhule interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts last week and is apparently a dark horse candidate for the New York Giants job . . . confirmed yesterday, that Zach Kittley will be the new offensive coordinator at Houston Baptist and congrats to him . . .

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