Davide Moretti scored a career-high 17 points and Deshawn Corprew added 11 points and eight rebounds to help lead Texas Tech to an 84-52 non-conference win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (2-0) won their 40th straight non-conference home game with the 32-point victory where they limited the Delta Devils (0-2) to 33.3 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers. Texas Tech has not lost a non-conference home game now since Dec. 30, 2013 and coach Chris Beard is now 21-0 in those game. Moretti, a sophomore from Italy, would also set a new career-high with five 3-pointers in the game. Moretti led the Red Raiders with 14 points at halftime after going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. His previous career-best was 14 points last season against Florida Atlantic. “I was just making shots,” Moretti said. “My teammates helped me a lot with about five assists in the first half. I mean, that was confidence. My teammates were giving me wide-open shots.”
Norense Odiase would add a team-high 10 rebounds and also scored eight points, while Jarrett Culver went for 12 points, four assists and four rebounds in the second game of his sophomore season. Texas Tech has scored on the opening possessions in both games this season with an inside shot and then a 3-pointer… Owens would score the opening points for the second straight game and was followed by Mooney knocking down a 3-pointer. Against UIW, Owens had a dunk to start the game and was followed by Moretti hitting a 3-pointer. Texas Tech has started the first two games of the season with 9-0 runs. Texas Tech led by 23 at halftime after hitting five 3-pointers and shooting 53.3 percent from the field. The Red Raiders will host Southeastern Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at the USA. The Lions are coming off winning the 2018 conference championship. Coach Chris Beard said about Davide Moretti’s performance against Mississippi Valley State: That’s what Moretti is supposed to do. He is a good shooter when his teammates get him wide open shots and the offense produces shots. I think he is a 40-45 percent shooter. We are looking for him to get more consistent this year, he helped us out a lot last year as a freshman learning how to play on this level. He dedicated himself this summer to his national team while staying in town with his teammates in Lubbock. He is a guy I pull for. When he shoots the ball every tme I think it is going in because I know what this guy does behind the scenes. He is a guy that takes 400-500 shots a day and never takes a day off. I got a lot of respect for him.