At the start of the season, B12H.com ran a "Five Questions For..." segment asking the five most pressing questions of each team. In our continuing review of the season, here are the answers to those questions.

Five Questions For... Texas Tech basketball

1)       Junior guard Mike Singletary lit up Texas A&M for a near conference tournament record 43 points last season.  Will he continue to put the ball in the basket this season?

He did. Singletary averaged 15 ppg to lead the Red Raiders in scoring and placed 13^th in the conference. Though he put up a donut against Kansas, and scored only 4 against Kansas St, he still had two 28-point outputs, a 27 point showing and a total of ten 20-point performances.

2)       Will Pat Knight's second full season be an improvement over his first?

Good news, the Red Raiders doubled their 2008-2009 win total. Bad news, they only won 2 games in 08-09. So while 4 wins is a marked improvement, it's nothing to really write home about.

3)       Is Pat Knight on the hot seat?

I don't know what they expect in Lubbock. They aren't a basketball hot bed, and have never really competed at the upper tier of the conference, so while 4 wins should put you on a hot seat, never having taste the sweet aroma of success, they may not be quick to run him out of town. (Before I get hate mail, I understand they have won 10 conference games twice last decade, but even in those years, they weren't feared like an upper echelon team.)

4)       Do the Red Raiders have the personnel to match Knight's emphasis on defense this year?

Want to hear a fact? The Red Raiders placed 6^th in the conference in scoring offense with 76.3 ppg, ahead of Oklahoma St as an example, yet they won 4 conference games. If you score the 6^th most in conference, the way you lose ¾ of your games is by letting the opposition score more than you. Hence, no defense.

5)              Will all the new JUCO players pan out for the Red Raiders?

It depends on your interpretation of "pan out." The top three scorers, all the guys on the squad who averaged double digits, weren't incoming JUCO guys. David Tairu, though, finished fourth on the team in scoring and rebounding with 9.2 ppg and 2. rpg. Brad Reese was fifth in both of those categories and was an incoming JUCO. So the JUCOs had an impact, but might not have been the best on the team.

Now that the college basketball season is officially over, we're going to take a look back at each Big 12 school to discuss their season. The rundown will go in order of conference standing. See the complete schedule after The Jump.

What Went Right: Texas Tech started the season on a 9 game winning streak, which included a W vs then 10th ranked Washington and headed into conference play at 12-2. The Red Raiders also amassed some national attention being ranked as high as 20th in the nation. Led by juniors Mike Singletary and John Roberson TTU looked to be a team that could content in the Big 12...

What Went Wrong: ... but then the wheels fell off. The Red Raiders lost 5 of their first 7 conference games and ended the regular season on a 7 game losing streak. There isn't much logical explanation for the the downward spiral except that they lost confidence. Early on in the losing streak they lost nail biters to decent foes in Texas A&M and Texas, but as the Ls started piling up, their swagger started plummeting to the point that they couldn't stop.

Team MVP: Mike Singletary led the team in scoring at 15 ppg and rebounding at 6.8 rpg. Roberson was a great compliment, but Singletary was the go to guy for the Red Raiders.

Key Losses: Third leading scorer Nick Okorie graduates, as does favorite son Darko Cohadarevi.

Outlook Next Year: The good news for TTU is that their top two scorers return next year. The bad news is that with SIngletary and Roberson they still went 4-12 in conference this season. I predict that they'll win a few more conference games but remain entrenched on the bottom shelf of the conference.

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sports@big12hoops.com 

Texas Tech joined the AP Top 25 for the first time in the Pat Knight era. The Red Raiders, predicted to finish 11th in the Big12Hoops.com Big 12 Conference preseason rankings currently stand at 8-0 following Thurday's 99-92 upset win over Washington in the Big12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series.

Kansas remains No. 1 in the AP poll with 62 first place votes, with Texas ranked No.2 while receiving two first place votes.

Texas A&M jumped from 19th up to No. 16 in the latest poll.

Other Big 12 schools receiving votes were Kansas St. (No. 30), Oklahoma St. (No. 33) and Baylor (No.38).

Kansas received all 31 first place votes in the CNN/USA Today Coaches Poll, with Texas ranked second.

continue for complete Top 25...

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sports@big12hoops.com 

Texas Tech men's basketball program has signed three players to National Letters of Intent. The list of prospective Raiders are Jamel Outler, Javarez Willis and Paul Cooper. Outler and Willis will enter Texas Tech as freshmen and Cooper will be a junior for the 2010-2011 season.

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Texas Tech
vs South Dakota
Date — Monday, November 9
Tipoff — 6:00 p.m. CST

 LUBBOCK, Texas – Coach Pat Knight and the Texas Tech Red Raiders tip-off the 2009-2010 season this Friday, November 13^th against South Dakota at 6:00 pm at the United Spirit Arena. 

It’s veteran, military personnel, and first responder appreciation night so come out and help Texas Tech Athletics honor these very special guests.

In a recurring piece leading up to the start of the basketball season, we will examine the top 5 questions surrounding each Big 12 basketball team.

Today, the top 5 questions for the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

1)       Junior guard Mike Singletary lit up Texas A&M for a near conference tournament record 43 points last season.  Will he continue to put the ball in the basket this season?

2)       Will Pat Knight's second full season be an improvement over his first?

3)       Is Pat Knight on the hot seat?

4)       Do the Red Raiders have the personnel to match Knight's emphasis on defense this year?

5)       Will all the new JUCO players pan out for the Red Raiders?

Check back Monday when we will ask Five Question For... Texas A&M basketball.

Also check out Five Questions For...
Big 12 North: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Nebraska
Big 12 South: Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State

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