The Texas Tech men’s basketball team returns to NCAA postseason play for the first time in nine seasons when the Red Raiders square off with Butler in an 8-9 matchup during Thursday’s NCAA Tournament First Round. 
 
Tipoff is on-tap for 11:40 a.m. CT, and the game will be televised by TruTV in addition to being available on the NCAA March Madness app. Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner and Lewis Johnson will serve as the announcing team.
 
TruTV can be found on DirecTV channel 246 and Dish channel 242 along with channel 1164 on AT&T U-Verse and channel 32 on Suddenlink in the Lubbock area.
 
The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM and 950 AM in Lubbock. Brian Hanni and Chris Level will call the action. The radio broadcast also will be available on the radio affiliates of the Texas Tech Sports Network. There will be no online radio broadcast available on www.TexasTech.com or the TuneIn Radio app.
 
Westwood One’s NCAA radio broadcast will air on Sirius channel 83 and XM channel 202 on satellite radio.
 
Texas Tech (19-12, 9-9 Big 12) is back in the NCAA Tournament field for the first time since the 2006-07 season. The Red Raiders have won seven of their last 11 games going back to Feb. 3 and will aim for their 20th win on the season. Tech will look to bounce back from a 67-62 setback to TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament. A win Thursday would mark the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 2005 and the first 20-win campaign since 2006-07.
 
“You lead by example,” Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith said. “Hopefully they see that in preparing whether it was the first game of the year, or the last game of the year. It’s the same whether we’re preparing for TCU, Little Rock or South Dakota State. Now, we’re preparing for Butler. I think continuity and consistency is the key. We let them know it’s a wonderful opportunity and a great chance for them to represent the university the right way as well as themselves. They all know we’re going compete every day in practice and the intensity level now has to be enhanced. That’s something that we try to create in the practices since our last game, and just to enjoy the journey. Even though we want to be serious-minded, we still want to enjoy this experience.”
Butler (21-10, 10-8 BIG EAST) has posted a 7-3 mark dating back to Feb. 2, and the Bulldogs are making their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight seasons. Butler has secured a 17-8 mark during the eight-year stretch, fueled by two trips to the NCAA Final Four and two additional trips to the NCAA Sweet 16.
 
Thursday’s contest marks the second meeting between the two programs as Butler tucked away an 81-71 decision in the championship game of the 2007 Great Alaska Shootout. Butler and Texas Tech secured 2-1 records at the 2015 Puerto Rico Tipoff but did not face each other in San Juan. Five of the eight teams in the event made the NCAA Tournament, including Miami, Temple and Utah. 
 
About Texas Tech
The Red Raiders possess a balanced scoring attack with seven players averaging at least 8.7 points per game. Tech has had six players secure a 20-point performance on the season.
 
Toddrick Gotcher leads the way with 11.1 points per game and has buried 29 of his team-leading 62 three-pointers over his last 10 appearances. He has improved his scoring ledger to 15.2 points per game in his last six games. Gotcher’s 2.0 treys per game are sixth and his 40.0 percent three-point shooting clip is seventh in the Big 12 rankings. His 135 career games played are the most in program history.
 
Devaugntah Williams has come away with 10.6 points per game. He has registered a team-best 10 career games of 20-plus points, most recently a 20-point Senior Day effort against Kansas State on March 5. Williams has come off the bench in 10 of Tech’s last 11 games and dished out a career-high five assists versus TCU at the Big 12 Tournament. 
 
Aaron Ross has pumped in 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He was Tech’s top scorer and upped his scoring average to 12.5 points per game in Big 12 action. Ross has amassed double figures in nine of his last 12 performances. He has provided his top 4 scoring percentages during the run which included a trio of 20-point efforts against Oklahoma State (Feb. 3), Iowa State (Feb. 10) and TCU (Feb. 23).
 
Zach Smith has worked his way to 10.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. The 1.5 blocks are fourth followed by 7.4 rebounds that are sixth on the Big 12 leaderboard. Smith’s 7.4 rebounds are the most for a Red Raider since Andy Ellis grabbed 7.0 rebounds in 2001-02. He has totaled blocks in 23 of 31 games and notched 25 blocks in his last 14 appearances. Smith’s 90 career blocks are ninth in program history.
 
Keenan Evans has managed 8.8 points and 2.8 assists per game handling the point guard duties. He has distributed 28 assists over his last eight game and the 2.8 assists are 14th in the Big 12. Evans has improved his scoring mark to 11.9 points per game over his last 10 contests and garnered his second career 20-point output during the Kansas State game on March 5.
 
Norense Odiase saw his first extended action after he returned from injury against TCU in the Big 12 Tournament. He collected 10 points and six rebounds to reach double figures in nine of his last 15 appearances. For the season, Odiase has claimed 8.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
Justin Gray has been a member of Tech’s starting five in 10 of his last 11 games en route to 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds. He has knocked down 31-of-52 from the floor in his last eight games. Gray turned in 10 of his 13 games with 10-plus points versus Big 12 opponents, sparked by two 20-point performances.
 
Matthew Temple has started Tech’s last 14 games where he has chipped in 56 of his 86 points and 24 of his 42 rebounds dating back to the Oklahoma tilt on Jan. 26. Temple scored 11 points in a pair of games this season, most recently at Oklahoma State on Feb. 20.
 
Jordan Jackson, Devon Thomas and C.J. Williamson have seen court time as part of Tech’s bench rotation. Thomas has secured 2.5 points and 1.4 assists per game, while Williamson has compiled 25 of his 36 points over Tech’s last 15 games dating back to the TCU game on Jan. 18.
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs have piled up 80.6 points per game and have won all 15 of their games when reaching the 80-point barrier on the season.
 
Butler has a quartet of players who average double figures, led by Kellen Dunham’s 16.3 points per game, good enough for fourth place in the BIG EAST rankings. He has knocked down 80 of his 155 field goals from three-point territory and reached double figures 26 times fueled by 11 performances of 20-plus points. Dunham’s 1,915 points are fourth in program history.
 
Kelan Martin and Roosevelt Jones garnered All-BIG EAST Second-Team honors. Martin picked up 16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, both marks ranked inside the league’s Top 10. He added 10 outings of 20-plus points and scored double figures 25 times. Jones erupted for a career-best 35 points against Georgetown on Feb. 2. 
 
Jones has captured a balanced 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. All four marks are rated among the BIG EAST’S Top 15 sparked by 4.7 assists and 1.5 steals, which are fourth on the conference leaderboard. He has provided double digit points in 26 of 31 games and notched three of his four 20-point efforts against BIG EAST opponents.
 
Andrew Chrabascz has chipped in 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game followed by Tyler Wideman’s 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. The duo has combined for 27 games in doubles figures on the season whereas Wideman’s 1.5 blocks per game are third in the BIG EAST rankings.
 
Butler’s top performers off the bench include Tyler Lewis at 6.2 points, Jordan Gathers at 4.3 points and Austin Etherington at 3.8 points per game, respectively. The trio has accounted for accounted for 69 treys on their 132 made baskets.
 
“You have to start with their personnel,” Smith said. “Kellen Dunham is an outstanding scorer, outstanding player and is multitalented. We tried to recruit Kelan Martin out of Louisville and went in his home when I was in Minnesota. I knew he’d be the next outstanding player. The balance they have in their lineup – you have a player like Roosevelt Jones, who’s willing to just be the distributor and have the toughness and lead the way he does. They’re such an outstanding shooting team, especially from the three-point line. They know how to find the mismatches, and they take advantage of those mismatches. I love their execution and their spacing. Any time you get to this level at the Tournament, you’ve got to defend and rebound the ball. Those are things you have to do in any game in order to win and compete.”
 
Up Next
The winner of the Texas Tech-Butler contest will meet either Virginia or Hampton in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Second Round. Tip time is to be determined from PNC Arena. The game will be televised by either CBS, TBS, TNT or TruTV in addition to being available on the NCAA March Madness app. 
 
(Provided by Texas Tech Athletics)