Texas Tech Basketball: Udoka Azubuike injury opens up Red Raiders Big 12 title shot
Kansas suffered a big loss with the injury to Udoka Azubike. Can Texas Tech Basketball take advantage and win the Big 12 regular season title?
Since 2005, the Kansas Jayhawks have dominated the Big 12, winning every regular season conference championship. There have been close calls, including Texas Tech Basketball being a home win away during the 2017-18 season of getting the title.
The Red Raiders were supposed to take a step back after losing leading scorer Keenan Evans and NBA Draft lottery pick Zhaire Smith, along with a couple other key senior pieces. But head coach Chris Beard has picked up where last season’s team left off, starting out 13-1 (2-0) for the 2018-19 campaign.
Jarrett Culver has looked like an All-American candidate and the other pieces have performed very well. Texas Tech’s defense is right next to Virginia at the very top of college basketball and it has shown in the first pair of Big 12 games, giving up just 59 and 57 points respectively.
The Red Raiders are one of four Big 12 teams unbeaten in conference play, along with TCU, Iowa State and Texas. However, the 1-1 Jayhawks are still viewed by many outside of Lubbock as the favorite to win yet another regular-season title.
But that may be changing, after the official announcement that starting center Udoka Azubuike will be out for the season with a wrist injury. The junior was having his best season to date, averaging 13.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg on 71% shooting from the field. He’s a traditional back to the basket post scorer and is a load to deal with in the paint.
Kansas has looked different without Azubuike, going 3-2 with losses to Arizona State and just recently, Iowa State. The offense at times has looked stagnant while the interior defense has taken a big hit. Freshman center David McCormack and junior forward Mitch Lightfoot will get extended minutes in Azubuike’s absence.
Kansas still has plenty of talent with Conference Player of the Year favorite Dedric Lawson and star freshmen Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes. And Allen Fieldhouse remains as formidable a home crowd to deal with for Big 12 opponents.
But the cracks are still there, with a team like Texas Tech ready to take advantage. They held Duke to their worst offensive performance of the season and have looked dominant all year. And the offense continues to improve, with players like Davide Moretti scoring more and more on a regular basis. Then there’s the environment that the United Supermarkets Arena has become as of late, with the Red Raiders losing just once at home in the last season and a half.
Texas Tech looks to climb into the top-10 as the highest ranked Big 12 team. Iowa State also is a clear contender after drilling Kansas this past weekend. And no Bill Self-coached team should ever be counted out.
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The Red Raiders don’t face the Jayhawks until January but has a good chance at having a better conference record by the time they play at Kansas on February 2. There’s a lot of basketball to be played until then but this is a good an opportunity for Texas Tech to get into the driver’s seat in the Big 12.