Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big 12 Basketball: Each team’s worst performance of the last decade

By Joey Loose

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 08: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts to a lead over the USC Trojans after a timeout with Trae Young
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 08: Head coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts to a lead over the USC Trojans after a timeout with Trae Young /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 11
Next
LUBBOCK, TX – FEBRUARY 21: Norense Odiase #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders passes the ball during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners on February 21, 2015 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 79-75 in overtime. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – FEBRUARY 21: Norense Odiase #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders passes the ball during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners on February 21, 2015 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Oklahoma defeated Texas Tech 79-75 in overtime. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Texas Tech

January 28, 2015 (at Oklahoma 81, Texas Tech 36) (GS: 2)

Among all the teams in the Big 12, Texas Tech is likely the one who’s had the roughest and most inconsistent decade. This team was coached by the legendary Bob Knight until 2008 when he retired, giving his son Pat the job. He was followed by a horrible year under Billy Gillispie, a troubling year under interim Chris Walker, three uninspiring Tubby Smith years, and now legitimate progress under Chris Beard. With all of this recent history, it should come as no surprise that there have been some real disasters for the Red Raiders.

Nearly ten years ago, the Red Raiders traveled to Stanford and lost 111-66, fried by a Stanford team that didn’t really turn into anything that season. On the other side of the spectrum, they welcomed rival Texas A&M for a home game in 2012 (during the Gillispie year) and lost a brutal 47-38 game where offense did not exist. They struggled and lost to teams like Oral Roberts, Indiana State, and Lamar, but perhaps this game in 2015 with Oklahoma is the worst.

As has already been highlighted, this was around the time when Oklahoma was pretty great, though this was the year before their Final Four run. They were expected to beat Texas Tech, but to deliver a 45-point beat down was certainly not expected. It took Oklahoma three minutes to get on the board, but once they did, the points kept coming. Ryan Spangler led the Sooners with 20 points while the Red Raiders shot just 21% and had 16 turnovers. The game was already 37-16 at halftime before a 22-2 run really ended any dream of Texas Tech getting back into this one.

Getting flattened this badly by a conference rival represents the worst of the worst, but it’s not all bad news in Lubbock. Chris Beard led this team to the Elite Eight last season and he’s already built a Big 12 contender in a very short time. Give it a few more years and the Red Raiders will be able to boast about a horrible Tourney upset instead of just meager 45-point regular season losses.

Home/Big 12