Texas Tech Hoops – Senior Day on Saturday

Time to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. After the amazing five game win streak we went on the road to get outplayed by two of the top teams in the country. We held our own and never really went away in Kansas. At West Virginia we flopped and got ran out of the arena. Turnovers were a key factor in the games that contributed to having a negative outcome. No time to feel sorry for the losses. Now, we only have time to move on and focus our attention on Senior Day in Lubbock.

The national media experts may give us a break on the latest two road losses to the #2 and #10 ranked teams in regards to our NCAA tournament bid. The game in Lubbock will not get the same exception. KSU is going to be considered a must win if we want to keep some breathing room in staying away from the NCAA bubble watch. Going into the Big 12 tournament with three straight regular season losses and maybe our postseason chances hanging onto how we do against TCU in the first round is not acceptable. Nor is it the way we want to send our seniors off from playing their last game in the United Supermarkets Arena.

Seniors Toddrick Gotcher and Devaugntah Williams deserve for the Red Raiders to play lights-out. For Williams, he came to Lubbock from JUCO and played as a transfer for Tubby Smith. He was the leading scorer for the squad last year, the only player that finished the season with a double-digit average. D-Will has had some clutch buzzer beaters to win games that are unforgettable. He is a big part of the crew that has helped the growth on the court from last season to this year. He chose to transfer from JUCO to Texas Tech over a few smaller schools. A great way for him to remember why he chose the Red Raiders would be to give him a win over KSU on Saturday in Lubbock.

Gotcher, we all know about him. He is one special Red Raider. He played his first game as a Red Raider in 2011 when Billy Gillispie was coaching. After an injury he redshirted that year. The Gillispie experiment failed, and Gotcher played his next season for interim head coach Chris Walker. During his redshirt sophomore season Tubby Smith entered the program. Three different head coaches in three straight seasons. Gotcher stuck it out and is still a Red Raider. He has gone from one of the best 6th man players off the bench to starter. His points per game average, rebounds average, assists average, field goal percentage, and three point percentage are all the highest of his career at Tech this season. The Red Raiders would not be in consideration for the Big Dance without Gotcher stepping up into the leadership role he has and carried the team. Gotcher had every opportunity to quit and move on, but he stayed with the team in Lubbock even though nobody ever gave us a shot in hell at making it into March Madness. I sure hope the crowd in the USA gives Gotcher the applause he deserves on Senior Day. It would make it so astonishing for him to get a fresh victory that could possibly seal a chance for our Red Raiders to make it into the NCAA tournament.

I hope it happens. Wreck ’em Tech!!!

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