The first time I traveled to a conference basketball tournament the stakes were different. Five Southwest Conference teams, winners of first-round games on...
The first time I traveled to a conference basketball tournament the stakes were different.
And not because there was a shortage of talent. Houston’s Otis Birdsong, SMU’s Ira Terrell and Arkansas’ young Basketeers — Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph — were on display the first two nights. But in the championship game, Texas Tech, led by Rick Bullock and Geoff Huston, held off the top-seeded Aggies, led by Sonny Parker. As a result, 19th-ranked Texas A&M failed to get an invite to either the 32-team NCAA tournament or the 12-team NIT.
Even with that, Baylor is fourth in the conference in scoring defense. Texas, at 59.5 points allowed, ranks seventh in the nation while Tech checks in at 13th, Iowa State is 24th and Baylor 30th. TCU and Oklahoma rank in the top 50. Texas Tech is one of the nation’s better teams searching for its offensive handle right now. Tech lost to TCU and Oklahoma State on its final two Saturdays, and the defeat in Stillwater to a team ineligible for this conference tournament was particularly troubling. The Red Raiders held a 49-41 lead with 9:30 to go. They scored one basket the rest of the way in a 52-51 defeat.
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