Texas Tech’s basketball team has two individuals worth keeping an eye on at all times.
On the bench: Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, who needs no introduction.
On the court: Red Raider senior swingman Andre Emmett, the leading candidate for Big 12 Conference player of the year.
“Obviously I respect the man as a coach,” KU junior guard Keith Langford said of Knight, whose No. 19-ranked Red Raiders (17-4 overall, 5-2 Big 12) play No. 20-ranked KU (14-4, 6-1) at 3:05 p.m. today at Allen Fieldhouse. “I respect everything about him.”
Same goes for Emmett, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound senior guard/forward and the Big 12’s scoring leader at 21.2 points per game.
“He’s a scorer,” Langford said. “He scores inside, outside, puts up shots from anywhere — the free-throw line, in transition.”
Langford, who with Nick Collison held Emmett to 16 points off 5-of-15 shooting in last year’s 65-56 victory over Tech in Lubbock, Texas, figures to be matched today against Emmett.
“I mean, of course it’ll end up that way,” Langford said. “It’ll happen, but the way they play, he plays the four (power forward) some. I don’t know if coach will make an adjustment, play a zone or what.”
KU coach Bill Self isn’t about to announce his gameplan, but he will declare publicly his admiration for Emmett and Knight.
“It goes without saying every coach growing up, especially right after getting into the profession, tries to study coach Knight and emulate a lot of things that have made him so successful,” Self said.
“I know him much better than he knows me, probably.”
Both Self and Knight coached in the Big Ten, but Knight exited Indiana just as Self signed on at Illinois. Knight has compiled a career coaching record of 826-315 in 36 seasons.
“I have never had a chance to play against his teams,” Self said. “I have dealt with him a little within the league. We have had a chance to meet at media day and different meetings. I have studied his teams. You have to be able to handle screens, back screens, down screens and fake screens.”
The man who runs around the most screens is Emmett, who has made 168 of 309 shots for 54 percent, including 10 of 27 threes.
“Watching tape, I would say he is to date, statistically, the best (player in league),” Self said. “I don’t want to come out and say he is better than our guys or somebody else. I would say he is definitely the frontrunner for player of the year in the league.”
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What makes Emmett, a Dallas native who has been named Big 12 player of the week five times this season, an All-America candidate?
“He moves very well without the ball,” Self said. “You aren’t going to be guarding a standing player, you are going to have to guard somebody who is always waiting for you to turn your head and then he will move.”
KU junior Michael Lee agreed.
“He’s good at finding gaps. If he gets the ball, he’s gone,” Lee said.
Tech has two other double-digit scorers: Jarrius Jackson (11.0) and Ronald Ross (10.6). The Raiders average 74.3 points a game and allow 62.9.
“Defensively, this Texas Tech team is going to get after you,” Self said.
The Red Raiders, who snapped a two-game losing streak Tuesday by thumping Baylor, 83-63, need a win today to avoid dropping two games behind KU in the league standings.
“Every game is important,” Tech assistant coach Pat Knight said. “It’s not just the conference race. It’s always trying to get to the NCAA Tournament.
“It gets tough when you lose a couple in a row. You want to overhaul everything, but there’s no sense doing that. You just can’t do that. But we’ve had a good season so far. We just had a letdown last week.”
“I’m excited. There’s always something in the media and news about his winning and his personality,” KU sophomore Christian Moody said. “He’s one of the great coaches of all time.”
“I know of Bobby Knight,” said KU soph Moulaye Niang, who was born and raised in Senegal. “I’ve heard he’s a tough coach. I was not recruited by him, but heard he’s tough on his players and has won a lot of games.”