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Texas Tech watch parties empty out disappointed, but hopeful for the future

Posted at 12:46 AM, Apr 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-09 01:46:20-04

Texas Tech fell short in its bid for the Red Raiders’ first national championship in men’s basketball Monday night, but the crowds of Tech fans who gathered at Coastal Bend bars are still proud of their team.

“A lot of people had doubts about our team, but we have a lot of faith in our coach and in our players, and obviously we have a lot to prove,” Texas Tech Alumni Association member Allison Gagni said.

The alumni association held its official watch party at the Pizza Hut at 6537 S. Staples Street, but another group of Tech fans took their party out to the island.

“I never thought I’d see this day,” longtime Tech fan Dwight Jackson said.

Jackson asked the Schlitterbahn to put the game on its 42-foot projector screen like they did for the Super Bowl, and the water park came through. A crowd of a dozen or so people watched Tech play for what would have been the second national championship in the athletic program’s history behind a women’s basketball title 26-years ago.

“Texas Tech has only won one national championship, and that was the girls in 1993,” Jackson said. “So, this will be a great day if we can pull this off.”

Even though they didn’t put it off, the consensus is that five straight wins in the NCAA Tournament and the men’s team’s first trip to the Final Four bodes well for the program moving forward.

“Go Tech!,” Jackson’s wife Haley Jackson said. “Get your guns up kids!”