by Adam Burns
Daily Cougar StaffThe Texas Tech Red Raiders have the rest of the league playing catch-up.
No. 13 Tech (18-1 overall) has finished the first half of the Southwest Conference season with an unblemished conference record of 7-0.
The Raiders' last victory came Saturday against the Rice Owls 79-57 at Autry Court.
"I thought our guys played outstanding basketball for 40 minutes," said Tech assistant coach Greg Pickney.
Tech has a two-game lead over both of the SWC's other title contenders, Texas (12-6, 5-2 in the SWC) and Houston (11-8, 5-2), but has yet to play either on the road.
The Raiders begin the SWC's second half today when they host Texas Christian (11-10, 2-4) at 7 p.m. in Lubbock Municipal Coliseum; Tech will be at Texas A&M (11-9, 3-5) at noon Saturday in College Station's G. Rollie White Coliseum.
In the two schools' first meeting, Tech beat TCU 90-86 Jan. 10 in Fort Worth; the Raiders then downed A&M 82-54 Jan. 13 in Lubbock.
TCU head coach Billy Tubbs said he knows why Tech is where it is.
"They are on a mission to get in the NCAA tournament," he said. "They are an outstanding shooting team. They rebound well, and they play defense.
"(But) the game plan doesn't change, regardless of who you are playing."
Rice (10-8, 3-4 in the SWC) faces both Texas and Houston this week, meaning this is a crucial week for the Owls if they hope to get back in the league race.
The Longhorns are at Autry today at 7:35 p.m., and the Cougars host the Owls Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Hofheinz Pavilion.
Rice lost its first meeting with Houston at Autry 76-74 Jan. 13; the Owls took their SWC season opener Jan. 6 in UT's Frank Erwin Center 80-69.
Texas head coach Tom Penders said, "We hope to go to Autry Court and try to get a little payback, but it won't be easy."
The Longhorns have combined the play of senior guard Reggie Freeman and freshman sensation Kris Clack to play beyond Penders' expectations.
"I didn't know what to expect from this team; it's just a young team," he said. "We lost six or seven regulars (at the end of last season) and four of five starters."
The Freeman/Clack duo has combined for 37.5 points per game, 45 percent of the Longhorns' offense.
Houston is coming off its last nonconference game of 1996, a 97-72 victory over James Madison Monday in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Cougars' only game last week was a 80-63 loss at Texas Saturday.
Cougars forward Tim Moore had just 10 points in the loss, well off his 17-point average; he responded with 22 points and 16 rebounds against the Dukes.
"I thought we rebounded from the Texas loss real well," said Houston coach Alvin Brooks.
As for the rest of the season?
The Cougars might still have an outside chance of winning the league title. After they host Rice, the Cougars will face both Tech (Feb. 17) and Texas (March 2) at Hofheinz.
"We still have a lot of tough basketball games left," Brooks said. "(But) we feel good with our team right now going into Rice."