Winter brought more than just snow to Lubbock on Monday
By: Julissa Garcia / Alpha Media Lubbock Intern
The snow was still glazed over the ground like a white blanket on Monday night when the Texas Tech Men’s basketball team hosted Kansas. Tip-off was at 8:00 p.m. and the snow didn’t stop the arena from basically being sold out to help support Tech in hopes of beating a top 10 ranked opponent.
Texas Tech pulled off an insane win against Kansas 79-50. The crowd matched the white snow as the game was a white out. The fans brought an electric vibe and started many chants that seemed to get to the Kansas players. Kansas never led in this game in Lubbock against Texas Tech. The amount of 3s for the Red Raiders kept sinking in and the Red Raiders finished 10-for-26 from behind the arc.
The 29-point loss marked Kansas’ largest loss against an unranked opponent since 1950. To top off a tough loss for Kansas, Bill Self was ejected for the first time in his 21 seasons at Kansas. Self was ejected after getting two technical fouls in quick succession with just under six minutes remaining. He is the third Big 12 coach to be tossed out of a game this season.
For the second-straight game, Kansas did not have either graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. or freshman guard Jamari McDowell available to play in this game. McCullar transferred from Texas tech to Kansas in 2022 and is in his second season with the Jayhawks as a starter.
Darrion Williams scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He also made both of his free throws and had 11 rebounds. Williams now holds the school record for the best shooting performance in school history. Warren Washington was the only other Red Raider in double digits.
This is a game that will go down in history and one that many Red raider fans will never forgot about. Tech basketball is currently 4th in the Big 12 conference with 7 games remaining. The next game for Tech is on the road to face Iowa State February 17 at 11:00 a.m. in hopes of ruining the Cyclones perfect home record.
