Game #21: Texas Tech (12-8, 3-3 in Big 12) at No. 24/24 Texas (14-6, 3-3)
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007; 3 p.m. CT
United Spirit Arena (capacity 15,050); Lubbock, Texas
Game Day Information & Quick Facts
TV: FSN (FOX Sports Net) -- Bill Land, play-by-play; Brenda VanLengen, color analyst
Radio: KVET Radio (1300 AM) -- Central Texas; Texas Tech Sports Network
Teams at A Glance
National Rankings: Texas is No. 24 in this week's Associated Press Poll and also in the USA Today/ESPN Poll; Texas Tech is not ranked
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt (Baylor '63): 38th year overall: 1,195 games: 896-299 (.750); 31st year at Texas: 1,016 games: 779-237 (.767)
Texas Tech Head Coach Kristy Curry: 8th year overall: 250 games: 191-59 (.764); first year at Texas Tech: 20 games: 12-8 (.600)
All-Time Series Record: 75th meeting: Texas leads series, 52-22
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. Texas Tech: 23-6 at home; 17-12 away; 12-4 at neutral site
Series Win Streak: +2, Texas Tech
Last Year's Meetings: Texas Tech 84, Texas 63 (Feb. 2, 2006, at Lubbock, Texas); Texas Tech 56, Texas 48 (Feb. 26, 2006, at Austin)
Conradt All-Time vs. Texas Tech: 52-22
Today's Teams
Texas enters today's contest with a 14-6 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Big 12 action, while Texas Tech stands 12-8 and 3-3 in the Big 12... Texas and Tech are in a three-way tie (with Kansas State) for fifth in the Big 12 race ... UT is 7-3 in its last 10 games and is 1-1 in its last two games... On Sunday, Jan. 21, UT posted a 64-45 win over then-No. 17 Texas A&M Sunday, propelled by senior Tiffany Jackson's game-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season and 14 points from freshman Brittainey Raven ... On Wednesday, No. 13/11 Baylor tripped up the Horns, 63-59, in Austin, as junior guard Erneisha Bailey (16 points) and freshman reserve guard Niqky Hughes (11 points) were UT's top scorers ... This week, Texas is ranked No. 24 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls, while Texas Tech is unranked ... Texas was 22nd (AP) and 24th (USA Today/ESPN) last week before going 1-1 on the week, losing at Iowa State (67-56) prior to the win over the Aggies.
Texas Tech has not played since Monday when the Lady Raiders lost to No. 6 Oklahoma, 86-81 in double OT in Norman, Okla. ... This is the 75th game in the Texas-Texas Tech series, which is the longest series in UT basketball history ... Texas leads series play, 52-22, although Texas Tech has a two-game win streak in the series, taking both games a year ago.
Texas in the RPI's
In this week's RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) ratings, the formula used by the NCAA to help determine which teams go to the post-season tournament,Texas ranks between Nos. 23-27 ... A team's RPI is a sum of three values: the team's winning percentage, its opponents' average winning percentage (strength of schedule), and its opponents' opponents' average winning percentage. This week, UT's RPI's are: 22nd (collegerpi.com), 23rd (NCAA and College Basketball News) and 27th (Sagarin)... Top RPI's in the Big 12 go to Oklahoma (8th in NCAA), Baylor (18th), Kansas State (21), Texas and Nebraska (26).
Home Sweet Home -- Not Road Warriors
Today's game marks UT's 21st game overall, but it is only the Longhorns' SEVENTH game away from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin ... Nine of Texas' first 11 games, and 11 of the Longhorns' first 15 were at home in the Erwin Center ... UT is 11-3 at home to date, 2-3 in away games and 1-0 at a neutral site... In Big 12 action, the Longhorns are 2-2 at home and 1-1 in away contests, winning at Missouri (79-77 in overtime on Jan. 10) while losing at Iowa State (67-56 on Jan. 17).
Close Contests
Seven of UT's first 20 games have been decided by five points or less ... The Horns are 4-3 in those games decided by 1-to-5 points overall, and 2-2 in Big 12 games ... Four of the last seven Texas games have been decided by a total of 14 points - a four-point loss to Nebraska (79-74), the wins over Purdue (64-61) and Missouri (79-77) and the Wednesday loss to No. 13 Baylor (63-59).
Tech and the Longhorns One-Two in All-Time Big 12 Wins
The Big 12 Conference is in its 11th year, and the Longhorns stand 107-59 (.645) after 166 games in Big 12 regular season play -- second-best all-time in league wins behind Texas Tech (121 wins) and ahead of Oklahoma (104) and Iowa State (103) ... These are the only Big 12 schools to register 100-plus regular season victories; standing fifth in all-time regular season wins is Baylor (with 96).
Texas Stat Leaders
All-America candidate and 6-3 senior F Tiffany Jackson continues as Texas' top scoring (19.1 ppg), rebounding (9.3 rpg), blocks (1.2) and steals (2.6) leader ... With sophomore G Erika Arriaran (10.5 ppg) out with her ACL injury, the second-leading scorer for UT is redshirt freshman F Earnesia Williams (9.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg), who is followed by junior G Erneisha Bailey (7.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg), freshman G Brittainey Raven (6.8 ppg) and freshman PG Carla Cortijo (6.8 ppg) .. Cortijo leads the way in assists (75, 4.2 apg) while Bailey is second in rebounding and in steals (46, 2.2 spg) ... Sidelined shooting guard Erika Arriaran led the team in 3-point shooting (26-65, .400) prior to her injury... Now, the next best 3-point shooters on the squad are Williams (6-17, .353), Raven (6-17, .353) and Cortijo (10-30, .333).
Texas in The Big 12 Conference Statistics
After five Big 12 league games, senior Tiffany Jackson is tied for fourth in scoring (18.0 ppg), is fourth in rebounding (9.8) and third in steals (2.33 spg) ... The most versatile player in the league is Jackson ... The National Player of the Year candidate also is tied for eighth in assists (2.83) and tied for ninth in blocks (1.3 bpg) ... Jackson also is first in minutes played, averaging 38.33 mpg in Big 12 contests, and is second in defensive rebounding (7.5 per game).
Redshirt freshman Carla Cortijo is first in Big 12 assists (5.2 apg), first in league free throw percentage (10-10, 1.000) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.19, 31 a's, 26 to's)... Junior shooting guard Erneisha Bailey, UT's top defender, is tied for fourth in league steals (2.2 spg) and is No. 9 in FG percentage, hitting 52 percent of her shots (25-48)... Freshman guard Brittainey Raven stands 14th in field goal pct. (.469) and 13th in steals (1.7 spg).
Scouting Texas Tech
Tech is led by 6-0 senior forward Alesha Robertson (13.5 ppg), 6-0 freshman guard Jordan Murphree (9.7 ppg) and 6-0 senior guard Chesley Dabbs (9.4 ppg)... Robertson is the top rebounder (8.9 rpg) as well, while Murphree leads the club in assists (59, 2.95 apg) ... Senior guard Brooke Baughman is the team's top 3-point shooter, making 24 of 67 treys to date (.358), followed by Robertson (22-71, .310) ... In Big 12 play, Robertson leads the way (13.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg) followed by Dabbs (11.8 ppg) and 6-6 senior post Patrice Edwards, who averages 10.2 points and 7.0 boards in Big 12 action.
As a team in the Big 12 stats, the Longhorns are first in league steals (11.33), first in turnover margin (+6.0, 16.7 to's to opponents' 22.7), second in league assists (14.0 apg), third in assist-turnover ratio (0.84) and fourth in scoring margin (+3.5, 66.8 ppg to 63.3 ppg).
Texas-Texas Tech Series
This is the 75th game in the Texas-Texas Tech series, which is the longest series in UT basketball history ... Texas leads series play, 52-22 and is 5-4 in the last nine games of the series ... Since Big 12 play began in 1996-97, Tech leads series play, 16-6 ...In games in Austin, Texas is 23-6 against Tech ... In game at Lubbock, the Horns stand 17-12, and at a neutral site, Texas leads play, 12-4... Texas Tech has a two-game win streak in the series, having won both regular season matchups a year ago.
Jackson Strong vs. Tech
In six prior games against Texas Tech, UT's 6-3 senior forward Tiffany Jackson has collected 96 points and 51 rebounds and 14 steals, and has hit 82 percent of her free throws, going 38-for-47 from the foul line ... Jackson is averaging 16.0 points and 8.5 boards against the Lady Raiders, and is shooting 50 percent from the floor (35-70).
Who's Hot for the Horns
· Junior guard Erneisha Bailey (Kansas City, Mo.) has been in double-figure scoring in four of the last five games.. In this span, she has registered 59 points to go with 27 rebounds and 10 assists .. Bailey was the team's high scorer (the first time this year) with 16 points against No. 13/11 Baylor Wednesday ...
· Senior Tiffany Jackson (Dallas, Texas) picked up her seventh double-double (27 points/14 rebs) against Texas A&M (Jan. 21) and had double-digit rebounding for the second game in a row... Jackson pulled down 11 boards against Iowa State on Jan. 18...
· Freshman shooting guard Brittainey Raven (Fort Worth, Texas) notched 14 points - one shy of her career high - in the win over No. 11 Texas A&M... She is shooting 48% from the floor (26-54) in the last seven games...
· Redshirt freshman point guard Carla Cortijo, who leads the Big 12 in league assists and in free throw percentage, has also been in double-figure scoring in four of the last six games, pumping in 64 points - an 10.72 ppg average - in this stretch ... In the last six games, Cortijo (Bellaire, Texas) contributed 30 rebounds (5.0) and 26 (4.3) assists ... She is coming off her first Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor (Jan. 15) after standout play in wins over Missouri and Colorado...
Stepping into more playing time in the absence of shooting guard Erika Arriaran (UT's second-leading scorer who is lost for the year with an ACL tear) has been freshman guard Gabriell Mattox (Kountze, Texas) ... Against Colorado and Iowa State last week, the rookie came off the bench with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists ... This included a career-high eight points against Iowa State.
