Texas Tech 2007 NCAA Tournament Capsule

Texas Tech Red Raiders - Big 12 (21-12, 9-7)

Seed: #10 - East Region

RPI: 53

Big Wins: 1/20 Kansas (69-64), 1/24 Texas A&M (70-68), 2/13 at Texas A&M (77-75)

Bad Losses: 1/13 at Baylor (70-73), 1/27 at Missouri (58-71), 2/6 Nebraska (59-61)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2005, Sweet Sixteen loss to West Virginia

Coach: Bob Knight (45-24 in 27 NCAA appearances)

Probable Texas Tech Starters:

• Charlie Burgess, Junior, Guard, 8.9 ppg, 2.5 apg, 4.1 rpg

• Jarrius Jackson, Senior, Guard, 20.2 ppg, 1.8 apg, 3.3 rpg

• Alan Voskuil, Sophomore, Guard, 3.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg

• Martin Zeno, Junior, Guard, 16.5 ppg, 3.2 apg, 5.3 rpg

• Jon Plefka, Senior, Forward, 6.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg

Key Roleplayers for Texas Tech:

• Benny Valentine, Sophomore, Guard, 3.4 ppg, 1.2 apg

• Darryl Dora, Senior, Forward, 5.0ppg, 2.6 rpg

• Decensae White, Freshman, Forward, 4.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg

• Michael Prince, Sophomore, Forward, 1.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg

• Damir Suljagic, Sophomore, Forward, 1.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:
The staple of this Texas Tech group is the upperclassmen guards. Jarrius Jackson and Martin Zeno are both explosive scorers. Charlie Burgess has done a decent job running the show and getting the ball to the big scorers. However, last year’s Junior College Player of the Year can do a little scoring himself as well.

With the experienced guards comes controlling the tempo of the game. The assist-to-turnover ratio is not noteworthy for any of the guards, but the team only commits 11.8 turnovers per contest.

Why Texas Tech Can Disappoint:
With those guards, if the Red Raiders had better options up front, they would have won the conference and be in the discussion to go to the Final Four. Coach Bob Knight has started sevendifferent players at the power forward and center spots. Jon Plefka and Darryl Dora are the best two options, but neither are true post players and spend too much time thinking about shots on the perimeter. That especially hurts the rebounding and the Red Raiders have a -4.5 rebound margin, easily the worst in the conference. Seven-footer Esmir Rizvic is out for the season after suffering an injury in early January. He did not help too much on the glass, but was at least a bigger option for a team that needs a big man.

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Who To Watch:
Jackson and Zeno are the big scorers and Texas Tech needs them to score in bunches. Zeno and the underappreciated Jackson have only failed to reach double-digits twice each on the season. Texas Tech lost all fourof those games, including a horrible home loss to Nebraska.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 72.4 (108th in nation, 7th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 68.7 (175, 7)

Field-Goal Percentage: 45.7 (106, 6)

Field-Goal Defense: 45.9 (253, 11)

Free-Throw Percentage: 73.6 (31, 1)

Rebound Margin: -4.2 (285, 12)

Assists Per Game: 13.6 (159, 9)

Turnovers Per Game: 11.8 (20, 1)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Second Round loss to Georgetown

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