By Jeff Walker | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Facing its toughest competition to date, Texas Tech came away with a split in the Legends Classic.

The Red Raiders’ schedule won’t get much easier.

To the casual basketball fan, one might recall Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston and Xavier McDaniel.

To basketball fans in Texas, Mark Turgeon should ring a bell.

Yes, those former players and Texas A&M’s current head coach all came from Wichita State.

To the avid basketball fan, one knows the Shockers compete in the Missouri Valley Conference, arguably one of the top “mid-major” conferences in the country.

“All we have to do is go back to Southeastern Louisiana,” Tech assistant coach Stew Robinson said. “We told our guys they were a good team and they were. This is no different. Wichita State is good and if you don’t want to listen, you could be out of it by halftime.”

Like the Red Raiders, the Shockers are coming off a pair of games against top-notch opponents. Wichita State (3-3) lost to then-No. 21 Georgetown and then-No. 5 Michigan State in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. – both by eight points.

Tech (6-1) lost to then-No. 3 Pittsburgh by 13 in the semifinals of the Legends Classic in Newark, N.J., before bouncing back to knock off Mississippi State in the consolation final, 77-73.

Sophomore forward D’walyn Roberts only played eight minutes against the Panthers before suffering an injury to his left knee. Tech trainer Jon Murray said Roberts suffered a mild sprain to his lateral collateral ligament. The 6-foot-7 Dallas native was back in the starting lineup, though, the next night against the Bulldogs.

“He hasn’t complained. He’s doing great,” Murray said. “He woke up the next morning and said he felt good. We taped it up and halfway through the (Mississippi State) game he asked if we could take the tape off. He wanted to go back in against Pitt, but at that time, the more he walked on it the more pain he was in.”

Roberts and the rest of the Tech big men will need to play well against the Shockers, who were never out of the game in a 58-50 defeat against the Hoyas, who always possess a big lineup.

Wichita State outrebounded Georgetown, 38-25, and made two more 3-pointers (5 to 3) than the Hoyas, who led only 48-42 with four minutes remaining.

Accurate shooting helped Georgetown close out the win, however, as the Hoyas shot 48 percent from the field and converted eight free throws in the final minute.

After trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half to Siena on Sunday, the Shockers rallied for a two-point win and then held a four-point halftime lead against the Spartans on Monday.

“They’re a real good team,” Robinson said. “They’ve got some big guys inside and some good guards. They’re starting to play well together and they’re very athletic and unselfish.”

Wichita State only has two players averaging double figures in scoring – Clevin Hannah (11.2) and Toure’ Murry (10.2) – but four players are averaging at least 3.8 rebounds per game, led by Ramon Clemente (9.0). The Shockers are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 37-29.

“They’re going to come in here and they’re not going to be afraid,” Robinson said. “They’re not going to care about the name on the jersey. They’re going to be tough.”

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