The Wildcats enter play Tuesday following a historic year for the program that saw the Wildcats finish the season 17-17, and 11-7 in conference play before winning their first-ever Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament game, a 73-58 victory over Southern.
B-CU’s efforts earned it a a second-ever bid to postseason play in program history, as the Wildcats and head coach Reggie Theus accepted a bid to the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational. The Wildcats were defeated by eventual semifinalist, Arkansas State.
In the months since, the Wildcats have evolved significantly. With the departures of All-SWAC honorees Jakobi Heady and Zion Harmon, B-CU returns only one starter in forward Reggie Ward Jr., as well as three bench players in guards Seneca Willougby and Simeon Womack, and forward Mason Dorsey.
In their absence, Theus and his coaching staff recruited a class of 11 newcomers to The Beach. Including UCF foward transfer Antwann Jones, fomer Manhattan Jasper Daniel Rouzan, and and 6-foot-9 Jerome Beya, among others.
Tuesday opens the 100th year of Texas Tech men’s basketball, with the Red Raiders coming off a 23-11 season before dropping an opening-round NCAA tournament game against NC State.
Texas Tech heads into the 2024-25 season unranked – they wrapped up last season at No. 22 nationally. The Red Raiders were picked seventh in the Big 12 Preseason Poll.
Darion Williams is the leading returner for Texas Tech, averaging 11.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and nine double-doubles a season ago. Chance McMillian also returns for Tech – he averaged just over 10 points per game last season on nearly 39% shooting from deep.
Saturday will be the 2nd ever meeting between B-CU and Texas Tech. The last time the two teams faced off came in the 2019-2020 season, with Texas Tech taking the contest, 79-44.
