Red Raiders climb up to No. 15 in national polls

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech is up to No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Coaches Poll after winning 11 of its last 12 games and having the best start to Big 12 play in program history.

The Red Raiders (16-3, 5-1 Big 12) are atop the conference standings after going on the road and knocking off Oklahoma last Saturday in Norman. Tech has now been ranked three straight weeks, appearing for the first time at No. 25 on January 15 before rising to No. 20 in last week’s rankings. Tech received votes for the first time this season with 62 in the January 8 poll after opening Big 12 play on January 6 with its road win over Texas which was at No. 20 at the time.

Along with the polls, Texas Tech is currently at No. 26 in the NCAA NET Rankings and Kenpom. The No. 15 national ranking is the highest since the program was No. 12 in the AP Top 25 at the end of the 2022 season. UConn (18-2) remains at No. 1 in the nation followed by No. 2 Purdue (19-2), No. 3 North Carolina (17-3), No. 4 Houston (18-2, 4-2 Big 12), and No. 5 Tennessee (15-4). Along with Tech and UH, the Big 12 is also represented by No. 8 Kansas (16-4, 4-3), No. 12 Iowa State (16-4, 5-2), No. 18 Baylor (14-5, 3-3), No. 22 BYU (15-5, 3-4), No. 23 Oklahoma (15-5, 3-4), and No. 25 TCU (15-5, 4-3).

Tech remains on the road where it will play No. 25 TCU at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Fort Worth (ESPN2) before returning home to host Cincinnati at 5 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena. Tech is currently 2-1 on the road in Big 12 play and 11-0 overall at home this season.

Pop Isaacs leads Tech with 17.0 points per game this season after scoring 18 at Oklahoma while Joe Toussaint added six assists, four steals, and 14 points and Darrion Williams had a team-high 11 rebounds. Isaacs leads the Big 12 with 19.5 ppg. in conference-only games after scoring his career-high 32 points against BYU before the 18 at OU in the past two games. Toussaint is averaging 13.4 points and 4.0 assists and Williams is now at 9.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. Warren Washington leads the Big 12 with 2.0 blocks in-conference games after having three blocks against the Sooners to go along with 10 points and seven rebounds. Washington tops Tech with 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game to go along with contributing 10.3 points and 1.9 assists. Chance McMillian led the Red Raiders with a career-high 27 points after going 6-for-8 on 3-pointers and is now averaging 9.9 points for the season.

In Big 12 games, Texas Tech is currently fourth in scoring at 75.3 points per game while TCU leads with 79.6 after scoring 105 on Saturday’s triple OT game. The Red Raiders are shooting 46.3 percent from the field for the season, 36.8 percent on 3-pointers, and 77.8% from the free-throw line. The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 by shooting 39.8% (49-for-123) on 3-pointers and are second at 47.9% from the field in conference-only games
Tech is 3-1 against ranked opponents this season with wins over Oklahoma (then No. 11) after beating BYU and Texas when both were at No. 20. The loss came against Houston which was at No. 5.

As a program, the Red Raiders were at No. 25 to begin the 2022-23 season following advancing to the 2022 NCAA Sweet 16 and were as high as No. 21 before falling out and not returning after three weeks. Tech’s highest AP ranking in program history came at No. 6 in February of 2018 (16th Week Poll) and the 2018-19 team was No. 8 in the final week of the regular season and No. 7 throughout the postseason that led to the 2019 National Championship Final.

Release Provided By WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics