No. 3 seed TTU takes on No. 14 seed Montana State in first round of NCAA Tournament

Provided by Texas Tech Athletics

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) - Texas Tech is the No. 3 seed in the NCAA West Region and is set for the program’s fourth straight and 19th overall NCAA Tournament appearance where it will open against No. 14 seeded Montana State at 12:45 p.m. (CST) on Friday at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. On the other side of the West Region bracket in San Diego, Alabama will play either Rutgers or Notre Dame on Friday.

The Red Raiders (25-9, 12-6 Big 12) have matched the program record for their highest seeding and will look to continue program success in the tournament that had them reach the 2018 Elite 8 and the 2019 NCAA National Championship Final. Tech is currently at No. 12 in the national rankings after a season where it finished third overall in the Big 12 regular-season standings and then reached the Big 12 Championship Final for the second time in program history. Tech is coming off a 74-65 loss to No. 6 Kansas in the Big 12 Championship game last Saturday in Kansas City. The team has not lost back-to-back games all season.

Bryson Williams leads the Red Raiders with 13.7 points per game this season after scoring 17 against KU in the Big 12 championship final, while five players are averaging over eight points per game with Terrence Shannon, Jr. (10.4), Davion Warren (9.9), Kevin Obanor (9.9), Kevin McCullar (9.7) and Adonis Arms (8.4). Tech is at No. 1 in Kenpom.com defensive efficiency after a season where the Red Raiders are limiting opponents to only 60.3 points per game, are holding teams to 38.4 percent shooting and are forcing 16.1 turnovers per game. Warren leads the team with 50 steals, while Marcus Santos-Silva has 24 blocks for the Red Raiders who have limited 15 opponents under 60 points and five under 50 this season. Tech is an experienced team with four players having scored over 1,000 points in their careers with Williams leading the way with 2,094 followed by Warren (1,933), Arms (1,663) and Santos-Silva (1,234). Shannon has 884 points for the most in a Red Raider uniform on this year’s team.

Montana State is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 26 years after winning the Big Sky Tournament with an 87-66 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday. TTU and MSU played for the first time in program history in 1939 with a neutral-court game in Oklahoma City. That season of 1939 was also the first for the NCAA Tournament.

The Red Raiders are 8-3 over the past three tournaments which is the second most wins nationally with Gonzaga and Michigan tied for the most with 10. Baylor, Houston and Duke each have seven and Virginia has six. After the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID, the program returned last season to advance to the 2021 NCAA Second Round after a win over Utah State before falling to Arkansas. Tech has now made the NCAA Tournament in 1954, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

QUICK FACTS

Matchup: No. 14 Montana State (27-7, 16-4) vs. No. 3 Texas Tech (25-9, 12-6)

Location: San Diego, California

Venue: Viejas Arena

Tip: 12:45 p.m. (CST), Friday TV: TNT TV

Talent: Lisa Byington (play-by-play), Steve Smith and Avery Johnson (analyst), Lauren Shehadi (reporter) Westwood One National

Radio: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), PJ Carlesimo (analyst) Radio (Texas Tech Sports Network): 97.3 Double T FM

Radio Talent: John Harris (play-by-play), Chris Level (analyst)

Series History: Texas Tech leads 3-1; Last Meeting: Tech won 86-67 (Jan. 3, 1996)

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