Monday Morning Matador: Victory, defeat, and good grief... arrests

So Keenan Evans has had a broken toe since.... Baylor. I’m infinitely impressed by his fighting spirit. It is time for another Monday Morning Matador and we have got some things to go over today. *pours coffee* Like the great Samuel Jackson said one time in the original Jurassic Park movie, “hold onto your butts.”

Men’s basketball makes it to the elite eight, fall short to Villanova

In what has been a historic run for the men’s basketball program, the Red Raiders took on Purdue Friday night in the Sweet Sixteen that promised to be a balanced match-up. Offense versus defense. Good versus evil. You get it. Texas Tech played one their best games and the box score certainly shows it with the Red Raiders taking down the Boilermakers 78-65. It’s the first time ever that the men’s basketball program has made it past the Sweet Sixteen but there wasn’t much time to celebrate with the no. 1 overall up next. On Sunday the Red Raiders faced off against another historic team, the Villanova Wildcats, who had made an unprecedented 44 three-point plays in their first 3 games of the tournament. It would be, again, a match-up of greats with Villanova’s prolific offense againt Texas Tech’s shutdown defense. Ultimately missed opportunities by the Red Raiders on the offensive side of the ball as well as a number of fouls/free throws given up allowed the Wildcats to maintain a lead for the majority of the game. Despite their efforts the Red Raiders fell short in the Elite Eight losing 59-71. Before you start criticizing Keenan’s lack of presence in the second half - it should be noted that the supposed “turf toe” he’s been nursing actually had been a broken toe all along. As if we needed another reason to love this guy’s work ethic and passion.

Baseball locks down against Northeastern State in four game bout

Coming home after a stifling visit to Baylor, the Red Raider baseball team got back into an offensive rhythm against Northeastern outscoring the Huskies 56-12 (yes I’m serious). After finishing the final game with a 9-4 win, the Red Raiders move to 21-5 on the season and 14-0 at home. Texas Tech has had questions arise after the disappointing series against Baylor but look to put those doubts to rest with upcoming games against New Mexico State and West Virginia.

Softball meets doom against Oklahoma in three game series

In a three game series against the Sooners, the Lady Raiders were swept by an overwhelming total of 35-1. The softball team sits 20-13 on the year with important series coming up against Oklahoma State and Baylor. The next game will be played in Lubbock on March 29th.

Texas Tech football sees four athletes arrested

As if the football program didn’t have enough to worry about during the offseason - four of the team members were arrested on Saturday night for “criminal mischief.” Jett Duffey, Desmond Smith, Quan Shorts, and Christian Taylor all saw admission into jail with misdemeanor offenses. Regarldess of the severity, or lack thereof, of these charges there is no doubt that Kingsbury will dish out a more significant punishment for their actions. Expect to see some sort of dismissal from the team or lack of playing time/starting positions. As of now it is all speculation on the athletic end, but for certain these athletes/students broke the law and will be dealing with the backlash in some form or another. Stay tuned to Viva the Matadors for the most up to date information on this.