No. 20 BYU battles No. 25 Texas Tech in Big 12 Championship quarterfinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With its win over UCF on Wednesday, No. 20 BYU advanced to the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship where the Cougars will face off against No. 25 Texas Tech at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. Tip is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CT.

Thursday’s contest will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg and Chris Spatola on the call. It will also be broadcast live on KSL 102.7/1160 AM and BYURadio.org/BYU Radio app with Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant.

No. 20 BYU Cougars (23-9, 10-8 Big 12)
·      The Cougars advanced to the quarterfinals following a 87-73 victory over the Knights of UCF on Wednesday afternoon.
·      BYU improved to 4-0 this season in neutral site games on Wednesday. They are outscoring opponents by 20 points per game in those four victories.
·      Fousseyni Traore recorded his first double-double of the season on Wednesday as the junior became the 53^rd player in program history with 1,000 career points.
·      Aly Khalifa had five assists and zero turnovers in the second-round game, giving him a career-high 113 assists on the season to only 30 turnovers.

Head Coach – Mark Pope
·      Alma Mater: Kentucky, 1996
·      Division I Career Record: 187-106 (9^th Season)
·      Record at BYU:  110-50 (5^th Season)

 No. 25 Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-19, 11-7 Big 12)  
·      Texas Tech earned the No. 4 seed for the Big 12 Championships after going 11-7 in Big 12 play including a win over No. 11 Baylor in the regular season finale.
·      Pop Isaacs earned All-Big 12 Third Team accolades after leading the Red Raiders in scoring with 16.0 points per game
·      Darrion Williams was also named to the Third Team as the Nevada transfer has scored in double figures in 10 straight games including a 30-point performance in the Red Raiders' win over Kansas.

 Head Coach – Grant McCasland
·      Alma Mater: Baylor, 1999
·      Division I Career Record: 233-98 (10^th Season)
·      Record at Texas Tech: 22-9 (1^st Season)

Series Information
·      Series Record: BYU leads 3-2
·      Last Meeting: Texas Tech won 85-78, 1/20/24
·      H/A/N: 2-0/1-2/0-0