TEXAS (18-11, 6-9 in Big 12) vs. Texas Tech (16-13, 4-11 in Big 12)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 · 7 p.m. Central
Frank Erwin Center, (16,755) · Austin, Texas
GAME COVERAGE
TV: FSNSW (Carter Blackburn, play-by-play; Brenda VanLengen, color analyst)
INTERNET VIDEO: Watch Texas Basketball home games free on TexasSpots.com. (Note: Due to Big 12 television contracts, this game will be available no earlier that 11 p.m. Central
RADIO: KVET 1300 AM (Central Texas): Craig Way, play-by-play; Chad Hastings, color analyst; Texas Tech Sports Network
GAME DAY INFORMATION
In the National Rankings: Neither team is ranked, or receiving votes in the Associated Press or USA Today/ESPN Poll this week
Texas Head Coach Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State '85): 16th year overall: 524 games: 414-110 (.790); first year at Texas: 18-11 (.621) ... Big 12 Regular Season Record: 6-9 (.400)
Texas Tech Head Coach Kristy Curry (Northeast Louisiana '88): 9th year overall: 290 games: 210-80 (.724); second year at TTU: 60 games: 31-29 (.517)... Big 12 Regular Season Record: 10-21 (.323)
SERIES INFO
All-Time Series Record: 78th meeting - Texas leads the series, 53-24
Texas' Home/Away/Neutral Record vs. TTU: 24-6 at home; 17-13 away; 12-4 at neutral sites
Series Win Streak: +1, Texas Tech
Earlier This Year: Texas Tech 70, #24/23 Texas 58 (Jan. 20, 2008, at Lubbock, Texas)
Texas Head Coach Goestenkors vs. Texas Tech: 2-1 [0-1 at Texas, 2-0 at Duke: Duke 85, Texas Tech 69 (State Farm Tip-Off Classic, Durham, NC, Nov. 11, 2001; Duke 57, Texas Tech 51 (NCAA Final 8, Albuquerque, NM, March 31, 2003)]
Player of the Game: Texas senior guard Erneisha Bailey
GAME PROMOTIONS
FREE Longhorns Kid Court EVERY home game! Pregame activity center for youth 18 and under is located in the adjacent Cooley Pavilion practice facility (follow signs from Erwin Center pavilions) ... Inflatables, basketball hoops of all kinds and sizes for the youngest to oldest child, face painting and contests ... Open 12:30 p.m. to 15-minutes prior to 2 p.m. tipoff.
Team Night: $5 general admission ticket for any player or coach in their team jersey or team T-shirt.
TexasSports.com web coupon: $5 general admission ticket
Be a part of the O-Zone and be eligible for: Hyde Park Bar & Grill gift cards, Schlotzsky's Cheer for Dough, Maudie's Tex-Mex gift card
Tickets: Purchase online at TexasBoxOffice.com; by calling 800-982-BEVO or 512-471-3333; in person at any Texas Box Office outlet, including Austin-area H-E-B stores and the UT Athletics Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Central); and in person one hour prior to game time at the Frank Erwin Center box office. Group packages are also available at an additional discount. For more information call 512-232-3865.
Regular Season Finale Tonight
Texas stands 18-11 overall and 6-9 in the Big 12 while Texas Tech is 16-13 (4-11 in the Big 12) in the regular season finale for both squads tonight ... This is Texas "Senior Night" as lone senior player Erneisha Bailey and two senior managers (David de la Pena and Kristen Fyffe) will be introduced in pre-game cermonies ... Texas carries a two-game win streak and is coming off Sunday's 65-50 upset victory at No. 10 Oklahoma ... Texas is now 5-6 against Top 25 opponents to date.
The Lady Raiders played Saturday and lost at then-No. 17 Oklahoma State, 74-54 ... The Texas-Tech Texas series is the longest series in UT basketball history ... This is the 78th game in the series, which is led by Texas, 53-24 ... Texas Tech won the first meeting of the year, posting a 70-58 win over No. 23/24 Texas on Jan. 20 in Lubbock.
Some Numbers Around Tonight's Game
A win tonight will give Texas its 19th win and the most victories in the last three years, dating back to 2004-05 when Texas finished 22-9 and advanced to the NCAA second round ... A win gives UT a 7-9 finish in the Big 12 Conference ... If Texas wins, its top finish will be a seventh-place tie (with Iowa State if 7-8 ISU loses to Nebraska tonight) ... A victory tonight also will give Texas its 13th homecourt win of the year, as the Longhorns stand 12-5 at home to date (including a 4-4 homecourt mark in Big 12 action).
Next Up: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship-Seedings & Pairings Decided Thursday
Thursday evening (March 6) is the final night of Big 12 women's basketball regular season play ... Thursday night's two games (Oklahoma State at Baylor, Oklahoma at Texas A&M), will determine the league's regular season champion(s) and will sort out the top five seeds in the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship ... The annual Big 12 tournament takes place next week from Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday, March 11-13 and 15th, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri ... The seedings and pairings for the 2008 Phillips 66 tourney will be released tomorrow evening at the conclusion of the two games, and will be available at and .
Raven HOT HOT HOT
In the last six games (with Texas standing 3-3), 6-0 guard Brittainey Raven has scored 96 points - a 16.0 ppg average - while shooting at a 47 percent clip (33 for 71) from the floor ... Raven also has gone 21 for 30 from the foul line in these games with 24 rebounds, 13 assists and nine steals ... She is coming off a 21-point, for-rebound game against Kansas (Feb.27) where she scored two points shy of her career high and a game-high tying 16 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the big win over No. 10 Oklahoma ... Raven continues to lead the Longhorns in overall scoring (15.4 ppg) and Big 12 scoring (14.3 ppg), having hit double-digit scoring in 28 of the 29 games, and is second on the squad in assists (85, 2.93) and steals (54,1.9 spg).
Big Ash on a Roll as Well
Texas 6-4 junior post Ashley Lindsey, arguably the most improved player in the Big 12 this season, is playing her best basketball as of late, scoring in double-figures in nine of the last 12 games ... Lindsey had scored in double-digits over a month's period (Jan. 20-Feb. 20) before netting eight points in each of UT's last three games ... The nine straight games in double-figure scoring is a career best double-digit scoring string for the Austin native ... She had a team-high nine rebounds in UT's win over Oklahoma Sunday... Lindsey is second in overall UT scoring (11.4), is first in rebounding (6.9) and ranks No. 13 nationally with her team-high blocks per game average (78, 2.7)... Lindsey also has logged a team-high five double-doubles... Last year, Lindsey had 3.3 ppg and 2.2 rpg while playing 10 minutes per contest off the bench.
Longhorn Stat Leaders
Versatile 6-0 sophomore guard Brittainey Raven tops the team in scoring (15.4 ppg), is second in both steals (54, 1.9 spg) and assists (85, 2.93) and is tied for third in rebounding (4.6 rpg) ... Junior 6-4 post Ashley Lindsey (11.4 rpg) is first in rebounding (6.9) and blocked shots (78, 2.7 bpg)... Lindsey ranks No. 13 nationally in blocked shots ... She has five double-doubles of the year, a team high. Second-year point guard Carla Cortijo (9.6) is third in scoring and tops the team in assists, dishing out 139 for a 4.8 assist average ... Freshman guard Kat Nash (8.1 ppg) follows in scoring and is second in rebounding (6.6 rpg)... The 6-2 Nash leads UT in 3-pointers made (36) and in free throw percentage (.839, 52-62)... Earnesia Williams (7.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg), a 6-1 redshirt sophomore, and the lone senior, 5-9 guard Erneisha Bailey (7.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg), follow in the stat columns.
Texas is out-scoring its overall opposition by +10.0 ppg (69.7 ppg to opponents' 59.8 ppg) ... UT holds a +3.5 edge on the boards (40.7 rpg to opponents' 37.2 rpg), having out-rebounded or tied in rebounding 21 of the 29 opponents to date ... The Longhorns are 16-5 in these games .... Texas also has a positive turnover margin (+2.5, 17.8 to's/game to opponents' 20.3 turnovers per game).
Strength in RPI Numbers
The Big 12 Conference is rated as the nation's toughest conference in the RPI ratings of College Basketball News, collegrpi.com and Jeff Sagarin ratings...Nine Big 12 teams are in the top 35 in terms of strength of schedule, including Texas which has the 20th toughest schedule (Texas Tech schedule is rated 35th toughest) ... Texas A&M's schedule is ranked fourth-toughest, followed by Oklahoma (6th), Baylor (10th) and Kansas State (13th).
Texas also is ranked in the top 37 in all RPI ratings ... UT is 26th the Sagarin rankings, 28th in the CBN ranks, stands 30th in the collegerpi.com rankings and 37th in the NCAA RPI (conducted prior to UT's win over Oklahoma Sunday).
A Look at Texas Tech
Junior forward Dominic Seals leads the Lady Raiders in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg), while senior center Erin Myrick (9.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and guards Jordan Murphree (9.7 ppg) and Maria Moore (7.3 ppg) follow in the stat columns... Moore has team-highs in assists with 109 assists (3.8 apg) and in steals with 46 (1.6 spg).
Texas and Texas Tech and the NCAA Numbers
In the recent NCAA Division I statistics (as of March 4), Texas is No. 25 in blocks average (4.9), 46th in scoring margin (+10.0) and 47th in field goal percentage defense (opponents shoot 37.1 percent) ... Junior post Ashley Lindsey, as mentioned previously, is No. 13 in the country in blocks per game average (2.7 bpg).
Texas Tech has two Top 50 rankings, standing 49th nationally in both field goal percentage defense (opposition shoots 37.3 percent) and rebound margin (+5.0, 42.4 rpg to opponents' 37.4 per game).
Texas in the Big 12- Lindsey Leads the Way
In Big 12 league games, guard Brittainey Raven (14.3 ppg) and post Ashley Lindsey (11.5) average double-figure scoring ...Raven is 12th in Big 12 league
scoring and Lindsey 23rd ... Lindsey also is second in league blocks (40, 2.7 bpg), fifth in offensive rebounds (2.73 per game), sixth in field goal pct.(.465), and 14th in conference rebounding (7.0).
Two Longhorns are ranked in the top 10 in steals, with senior Erneisha Bailey third (35, 2.33 spg) and redshirt sophomore Carla Cortijo tied for 10th (26, 1.7) ... Cortijo also is third in conference assists average (65, 4.33) and seventh in assist-turnover ratio (4.3 apg, 4.2 to's/game, 1.03).
In the Big 12 conference team stats, the Longhorns are tied for first in steals with Texas A&M... Both squads have 144 (a 9.60 average) ... UT also is third in free throw percentage (.728), fourth in turnover margin (+2.13, 17.8 to's/game to opponents' 19.9 to's/game) and fifth in blocks (65, 4.3 bpg).
On the flip side, however, Texas ranks in the middle of the pack or below in other categories, including: No. 6 in scoring defense (allowing 61.1 ppg); No. 7 in field goal pct. defense (opponents shoot .407); No. 8 in scoring margin (-1.2, 59.9 ppg to opponents' 61.1); No. 8 in assists (10.73 apg); 10th in rebound margin
(-1.8, 36.1 to opponents' 37.9 rpg); and 11th in FG percentage, hitting 37.2 percent of shots taken.
Looking at a Team Record From the Foul Line
Through 29 games, Texas is on pace to set the school record for highest free throw percentage in a season ... The Longhorns have knocked down 73.2 percent of their free throws (404 of 552) ... If UT continues at this pace, the 2007-08 squad will set the school record for best team FT percentage ... Prior to this season, the best free throw numbers were set by the 2003-04 Final 16 squad ... That 30-5 Texas team shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line (525-727).
UT's top two free throw shooters are freshman Kat Nash (.839, 52-62) and redshirt sophomore Earnesia Williams (.804, 41-51)... In the last two games, both victories, UT was stellar from the free throw line, shooting 80 percent (36-for-45) ... This included a 15-for-16 effort from the line in the final 1:48 against Oklahoma.
Texas-Texas Tech Series
This is the 78th game in the Texas-Texas Tech series, which is the longest series in UT basketball history ... Texas leads series play, 53-24, yet is 6-6 in the last 12 games of the series ... Since Big 12 play began in 1996-97, Tech leads series play, 18-7 ...In games in Austin, Texas is 24-6 against Tech ... In game at Lubbock, the Horns stand 17-14, and at a neutral site, Texas leads play, 12-4.
THIS YEAR: On Jan. 20 in Lubbock, Texas Tech posted a 70-58 win over the No. 23 Longhorns, despite turning the ball over 26 times ...Texas was hurt by cold shooting (34 percent) in the game, and was out-rebounded by the Lady Raiders, 46-33 ... Texas Tech shot 49 percent in the game and was led by junior Dominic Seals' career-high 27 points as Seals posted a double-double, adding a game-high 14 rebounds... .Both Brittainey Raven and Ashley Lindsey netted 15 points each for Texas, with Lindsey grabbing a UT-best eight rebounds.
After Tech led by as many as 15 points early in the second half, Texas whittled the margin to 57-53 as Brittainy Raven hit a layup and a free throw with 2:59 remaining as Carla Cortijo stole the ball and her outlet pass found Raven under the basket ... But LaVonda Henderson hit a field goal with 2:34 remaining and then hit two free throws on the next trip to put Tech up 61-54.
LAST YEAR: Last March in Austin, Texas had snapped Texas Tech's three-game win streak in the series with a 59-47 victory behind 17 points from then-redshirt freshman Earnesia Williams and a six-point, nine-rebound and career-high 13 assists from redshirt frosh point guard Carla Cortijo ... UT shot 48.1 percent in the game as UT led from start to finish ... Texas Tech was held to 33.3 percent shooting ... Texas controlled the boards, 40-36, and shot 7-for-15 from the foul line while Tech went 5-for-11 from the line... Patrice Edwards (10 points) led TTU ... Earlier in the season in Lubbock on Jan. 27, Tech won that meeting, 49-48, which was UT's lowest scoring output of the year.
More From the Charity Stripe - Gotta Get to the Line
There are lots of good numbers from the charity stripe this year ... When Texas makes MORE FT's than the opponent, Texas is 10-2 (5-2 in Big 12); when Texas makes LESS free throws than the opponent, the Longhorns stand 6-9 overall (1-7 in the Big 12).
Put `Em On the Line in the Last Two Minutes, Too
The Longhorns have been stellar from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game, a crucial stat when you see that 12 games have been decided by 10 points or less - including eight of its last 13 contests ... The Longhorns are a crisp 27-30 from the foul line in the final 120 seconds, hitting 86.4 percent down the stretch ... Texas sank an important 15 of 16 free throws in the final 1:48 in Sunday's win over Oklahoma.
Texas has two players who have hit the majority clutch free throws in the final two minutes of play ... Point guard Carla Cortijo is 27 for 30 in foul shots in the final 120 seconds, connecting on 90 percent of those free throws ... Shooting guard Brittainey Raven is 15 for 18 (.833)... Against OU, Cortijo was eight-for-eigth from the foul line in the final 1:48, Raven hit both of her free throws, and senior guard Erneisha Bailey went five-for-six.
Texas, Goestenkors Against the Top 25 This Year & All-Time
Texas stands 5-6 against Top 25 foes this season ... The 65-50 win over No. 10 Oklahoma Sunday concluded a nine-game stretch where seven opponents were Top 25 ranked squads ....Texas went 2-5 against the Top 25 - all league opponents - in this string of games.
In Texas history, the Longhorns have met a Top 25-ranked opponent (or Top 20 when the rankings went to 20 teams) 320 times ... UT's record against ranked foes is 149-171 (.466), including the 5-6 mark this year ... In 162 all-time games against Top 25 ranked opponents, UT coach Gail Goestenkors has a 92-70 record, a 56.8 winning percentage, with all but this year's 11 games on the Duke Blue Devil sidelines.
Cardiac Kids Playing `Em Close - 12 Games Decided By 10 or Less Points
Texas has played in 12 games which have been decided by 10 points or less - including eight of its last 14 contests (all Big 12 games)... After Wednesday's four-point (57-53) victory at Kansas, Texas is 7-5 in these games -- 4-1 in games decided by 6-10 points (2-1 in Big 12 play), and 3-4 in games decided by five points or less (including a 2-3 mark in Big 12 action) ... Of these close games, six have been on the road...UT had a three-point, 86-83 setback to Virginia (Nov. 23); a one-point win over San Diego (81-79, Dec. 30); a five-point loss in overtime (79-74) to Kansas State (Jan. 13); a three-point win over Iowa State (59-56, Jan. 16); a seven-point win over No. 13 Oklahoma State (Jan. 23); a one-point loss to No. 6 Baylor, 61-60 (Jan. 30); a nine-point loss at No. 21/20 Texas A&M (Feb. 3); a 10-point victory over No. 8 Baylor (61-51, Feb. 13); a 71-66 loss at No. 16/15 Oklahoma State (Feb. 20); and Wednesday's five -point victory at Kansas (57-53).
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