It’s been a great time for sports at Texas Tech.
Football went to the College Football Playoff, softball nearly won the Women’s College World Series and the track and field teams owned the Big 12.
The Red Raiders aren’t done yet, with men’s basketball (16-4) and women's basketball (20-2) on course to continue the run of success. Texas Tech's men racked up another big win Saturday, Jan. 24, beating Houston to prove it is a national title contender.
It was one of the most impressive performances of the season. Houston is reliably spectacular on defense, yet it didn’t look like it in Lubbock. The Red Raiders outmuscled the Cougars, drew fouls and forced Kelvin Sampson’s team to play their way. They scored 55 points in the first half, the most Houston has allowed under Sampson’s 12 seasons at the helm.
Despite 42 points from Houston freshman Kingston Flemings, Texas Tech didn’t crack with a late run to put it away.
Tech has won nine of its past 10 games , the only loss a four-point defeat at Houston a few weeks prior. During that stretch, the Red Raiders have beaten Duke, BYU and Houston, one of the best collections of wins you can find in the country.
It all starts with an offense that’s on fire. The 3-point shooting is relentless, making more than 11 a game — and if they aren’t making it from deep, they have JT Toppin continuing to dominate inside. He had 31 points and 12 rebounds against Houston, his eighth double-double in the past nine games.
Simply put, if Houston can’t stop this offense, then who can? The Big 12 is loaded with title contenders, and Texas Tech put itself in the conversation to keep the fun times in Lubbock and lead the top storylines of the weekend in college hoops.
How long until undefeated teams lose?
We enter the final week of January with three undefeated teams: No. 1 Arizona, No. 7 Nebraska and Miami (Ohio), all 20-0. It’s rare to have multiple undefeated teams at this point of the season, so it’s worth asking how long can this go?
Arizona hasn’t really been tested to start the Big 12 slate. That will change with a trip to BYU on Monday, Jan. 26. The Cornhuskers will have their biggest week yet, at Michigan for a top 10-ranked matchup followed by a visit from Illinois.
That leaves the mighty RedHawks. They beat Kent State in a thriller, as the Golden Flashes were the best chance to beat Miami (Ohio). Now it faces UMass next, a team that was expected to contend in the MAC but hasn’t looked the part.
Keaton Wagler cooks Purdue, Boilermakers in trouble?
Have yourself a day, Keaton Wagler. The Illinois freshman set a Mackey Arena opponent record by dropping 46 points to lead his team to a 88-82 road win against Purdue.
The Fighting Illini have been on fire with nine consecutive wins, really looking like the team much of the country envisioned coming into the season. While Illinois deserves its flowers for this win, it brings up questions surrounding the Boilermakers (17-3). Two straight losses wouldn't normally be concerning, but Matt Painter's team hasn't been playing well recently.
It was uninspiring in wins against Penn State, Iowa and Southern California. Braden Smith hasn't been the problem, but Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn have been very inconsistent, an overarching theme for the rest of the offense. Wagler's performance also highlighted Purdue hasn't been able to keep opponents from taking over the game.
Purdue is still a title contender, but cracks are starting to show for preseason No. 1, and they better get patched up before the panic alarm sets off.
Freshman light up scoreboards
Wagler and Flemings weren't the only first-year players with big days as Jan. 24 belonged to the freshmen. Look at these numbers from around the country:
- Wagler, Illinois: 43 points
- AJ Dybantsa, BYU: 43 points
- Flemings, Houston: 42 points
- Cameron Boozer, Duke: 32 points
- Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas: 31 points.
The youngsters are balling.
North Carolina gets swagger back
Back-to-back road losses to Cal and Stanford were so bad for North Carolina, it needed a big win to avoid people from yelling the sky is falling. Luckily for the Tar Heels, they picked up a Quad 1 win at Virginia on Jan. 24
North Carolina fell by 16 points in the first half and the Cavaliers looked like they'd run away with this ranked matchup. Whatever was said at halftime resonated, as the Tar Heels looked completely different in the second half. The offense was flowing, led by Jarin Stevenson scoring all of 17 points in the final 20 minutes, knocking in some big momentum buckets. He was able to take the pressure off Caleb Wilson and Seth Trimble, who had to pick up from the struggles of Henri Veesaar.
You can't overstate how badly North Carolina (16-4, 4-3) needed this win. It was the first road ACC win of the season, and prevented problems from snowballing. This could be the victory that turns everything around.
Rick Pitino makes history, St. John's finding momentum
Rick Pitino added another accolade to his hall of fame career, but it's not the biggest story out of St. John's: The Red Storm are finding a rhythm.
St. John's had a second-half comeback and fought off a Xavier rally to beat the Musketeers. Pitino got the best of the Musketeers and son, Richard, for win No. 900, the fourth Division I men's basketball coach to reach the mark. With the win, the Red Storm have won six straight — four on the road — to get back near the top of the Big East, where many expected them to be this season.
It's redeeming the 7-4 start St. John's had, which can't be completely ridiculed since it was a tough schedule. The Johnnies are building toward another strong campaign, and have a chance to run the Big East once again en route to March.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Top college basketball storylines: Texas Tech confirms contender status
