He was the coach at Arkansas-Little Rock and lead them into the 2016 NCAA Tournament. He parlayed that into a job offer at UNLV that he accepted. Shortly thereafter, Tubby Smith left Tech for Memphis. Beard had been an assistant at Tech for a decade and was a natural fit to replace Smith.
Fast forward to today and Texas Tech is one of the best teams thus far in college basketball. Similar to Clemson, the Red Raiders improvement on defense have turned their fortunes. They were 50th in defensive efficiency a year ago and are 2nd this year. Opponents have an effective fg% of 43.9 which is 10th best (Teams only shoot 42.9 from 2.). The Red Raiders 24.1 defensive turnover % is 9th best. Their steal rate is 12%, 10th best in the nation. They do put teams on the line.
They also are a very good rebounding team. Teams only have an offensive rebounding % of 25%. They’re also a good offensive rebounding team. They have an offensive rebounding % of 34.3%, 44th best.
A year ago, they were 57th in defensive efficiency and teams had an effective fg% of 50.7%. Once again, a big defensive improvement has put a team in position for a special season.
Tech is also a senior heavy team. They are getting a lot of good minutes from freshman Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver. Senior Keenan Evans is their best player. It may not have a roster full of NBA players but it’s a damn good college team.
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