Feb 20, 2007, 15:40 GMT
Austin, TX - Intrastate and Big 12 rivals will collide in Austin this evening, as the 19th-ranked Texas Longhorns welcome the Texas Tech Red Raiders to town.
Back-to-back wins have enabled Texas Tech to move to 17-10 overall and 6-6 in Big 12 action. The most recent victory came over Colorado on Saturday, as the Red Raiders put forth one of their best offensive efforts of the season en route to the 95-74 romp.
The goal for Texas today will be to extend its school record streak of 20-win seasons to eight. The Longhorns are riding a three-game winning streak and continue to battle for Big 12 supremacy. On Saturday, they were pushed to the limit by Baylor but emerged with a 68-67 triumph.
Texas recorded a 76-64 victory in the first meeting with Tech this season, and leads the all-time series at 66-52.
Texas Tech guard Jarrius Jackson is clearly one of the best players in the Big 12, and he has scored at least 24 points in five of the last six games. Jackson is averaging 20.7 ppg on the strength of his 46.7 percent shooting from three-point range, and the fact that he is a strong free throw shooter as well comes in handy at the end of close games. Martin Zeno has developed into an outstanding second scoring option for the Red Raiders, as he is posting 17.0 ppg on 50.3 percent shooting from the floor. Zeno, at 80.4 percent, is an even more accurate free throw shooter than Jackson. In the 21-point win over Colorado on Saturday, Jackson scored 28 points while Zeno racked up 24. Charlie Burgess hit 4-of-6 three-pointers en route to 16 points for the Red Raiders, who finished with only nine turnovers and a 22-5 edge in points from the foul line.
Texas is 19-0 against Baylor during the Rick Barnes-era after beating the Bears over the weekend. It comes as no surprise that freshman phenom Kevin Durant led the way in the win, as he registered 20 points and 14 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the campaign. He has recorded double figures in scoring in all 26 outings and has reached the 20-point mark 22 times. Connor Atchley scored a career-high 15 points in the win, while A.J. Abrams (12 points) and D.J. Augustin (11 points) added balance to the lineup. Durant is averaging 24.7 ppg and 11.5 rpg, numbers that we are not accustomed to seeing by a Big 12 player, especially a freshman. He is more worthy than anyone to be named National Player of the Year, especially considering the fact that his supporting cast is rather young and inexperienced for the most part. Abrams is scoring 15.1 ppg, and Augustin checks in with 14.3 ppg and 174 assists against 88 turnovers.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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