NEWS: Texas Tech plays Texas in hopes of finishing in the top four of the Big 12.

Texas travels to Texas Tech on Tuesday for what should be one of its most exciting road games of the season, in a season full of possible farewell trips.

The final regular-season meeting between the Southwest Conference rivals and Big 12 Conference opponents is anticipated to be exciting in Lubbock, Texas.

The Longhorns, who will transfer to the SEC after this season, were humiliated at Kansas on Saturday, while the Red Raiders, who were ranked No. 23 at the time but are currently outside of the Top 25, fell 75-61 at UCF. Both teams were limping into the game.

Under first-year coach Grant McCasland, Texas Tech (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) has emerged as a surprise team and is now tied for fourth place in the conference with three other teams. Breaking free of that knot is crucial because the top four teams advance past the Big 12 Tournament’s opening two rounds.

Starting with the Longhorns (17-10, 6-8), the Red Raiders, who are 14-1 at home this season, will take on three straight opponents with conference records below.500.

The loss to UCF dimmed Texas Tech’s flickering hopes for a Big 12 championship. The Red Raiders played without Chance McMillian (sore hip), who averages 10.1 points per game. There was no update on his status for Tuesday. The Red Raiders struggled in two areas of usual strength Saturday: They made only 8-of-28 3-pointers and 13-of-20 free throws. The Knights also outscored them 32-12 in the paint. “Ultimately, in these games, we need to make 3s and counterpunch,” McCasland said. “We weren’t able to do that. UCF had a lot to do with that. Their defense caused us problems, and we had problems keeping them out of the paint. Their length and athleticism caused us problems all night.”

The Longhorns ran into similar issues in Lawrence, Kan., in a second lopsided road loss against a top-10 team in the last three games. Texas fell behind 45-25 by halftime thanks to poor shooting and shoddy defense. The Longhorns played better in the second half, outscoring the Jayhawks 42-41, but never got closer than 13 points — in large part because Kansas shot 66.7 percent (14 of 21) after halftime and finished the game at 61.5 percent. Leading scorers Max Abmas and Dylan Disu were limited to five and eight points, respectively. “Those guys came out and really took it to us from the very beginning and had us on our heels,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. The Red Raiders won the first meeting this season, 78-67 in Austin, in the Big 12 opener on Jan. 6.