The Big 12 Conference revealed the men’s basketball league schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 season on Thursday.
 
Texas Tech will have 17 of its 18 conference games televised by the ESPN family of networks, while the Red Raiders home matchup with TCU (Jan. 18) will be carried by FOX Sports Southwest. Texas Tech previously announced its non-conference slate in mid-August.
 
For the sixth consecutive season, the Big 12 schedule features an 18-game, double round-robin format where league members play each other home and away.
 
The Red Raiders open Big 12 action at Iowa State (Dec. 30). It marks the first time in conference history that league games will be played during the month of December.
 
Texas Tech takes on West Virginia (Jan. 3) for its Big 12 home opener followed by weekday home matchups against Kansas State (Jan. 10) and TCU (Jan. 18). The Red Raiders travel to Kansas (Jan. 7), Oklahoma (Jan. 14) and Baylor (Jan. 25) in January.
 
Texas Tech begins a stretch of four straight Saturday home games versus Oklahoma State (Jan. 21). The Red Raiders also welcome LSU (Jan. 28) as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, 2016 NCAA Final Four participant Oklahoma (Feb. 4) and defending Big 12 champion Kansas (Feb. 11).
 
February’s home slate also features a pair of Little Monday matchups against Baylor (Feb. 13) and Iowa State (Feb. 20) on consecutive weeks. The Red Raiders meet Texas (March 1) in their final home game.
 
Texas Tech faces Texas (Feb. 1), TCU (Feb. 7), West Virginia (Feb. 18) and Oklahoma State (Feb. 25) on the road during the month of February. The Red Raiders conclude the regular season at Kansas State (March 4) leading into the Big 12 Tournament (March 8-11) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
 
Texas Tech, under the direction of first-year coach Chris Beard, returns five players who started 10-plus games from last year’s team which posted a 19-13  record and earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007 when Beard served as an assistant coach.
 
Texas Tech brings back its leading scorer (Aaron Ross – 12.5 PPG), leading rebounder (Zach Smith– 7.5 RPG) and leading assist man (Keenan Evans – 2.6 APG) from Big 12 play last season. The Red Raiders also return over 65 percent of their points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals from 2015-16.
 
Texas Tech has signed a pair of National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans in Niem Stevenson and Shadell Millinghaus. The Red Raiders also have inked two graduate transfers in Anthony Livingston, an All-Sun Belt performer at Arkansas State, along with Giovanni McLean who led Quinnipiac in scoring last season. Former four-star recruit Brandone Francis and Tommy Hamilton IV have transferred to Texas Tech and will sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.     
 
More season tickets have already been sold for 2016-17 than all of last season. Fans are encouraged to purchase season tickets now to reserve the best available seats. Season tickets are on-sale and feature affordable payment plans along with a family four-pack of season tickets starting at $199 in designated general admission sections and reserved season tickets for as low as $199.
 
Season tickets can be purchased in person at the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office located on the East Side of Jones AT&T Stadium, online at www.TexasTech.com or over the phone at (806) 742-8324. Information on single-game tickets and mini-plans will be announced by the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office at a later date.
 
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men’s basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter.
 
(COURTESY: Texas Tech Sports Information Department)