Lubbock, Texas ? Bill Self had one major regret after leaving Tulsa for the University of Illinois after the 1999-00 season.

He was arriving in the Big Ten just as Bob Knight was exiting the conference after a long, sometimes stormy, stay at Indiana.

“I was disappointed, to be honest,” said Self, Kansas University’s second-year coach. “Not that I was looking forward to coaching against him, but that was one of the draws of the league, having him in it.”

As fate would have it, Self wound up in the Big 12 Conference with Knight a couple of years later. Self’s Jayhawks defeated Knight’s Texas Tech Red Raiders, 96-77, last season at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We should be very proud of the fact we have some coaching legends in our league, primarily coach Knight and Sutton,” Self said of his mentor Eddie Sutton and tonight’s foe, Knight.

KU (20-1 overall, 10-0 Big 12) will take on the Red Raiders (15-6, 7-3) at 8 tonight at United Spirit Arena. The Red Raiders had a four-game league win streak snapped Saturday at Iowa State, 81-68.

“They’ll be mad,” Self said. “I’m sure coach Knight will have them fired up and ready. They really have a nice team.”

Some pundits have called Knight’s Red Raiders the best-coached team in the league.

“You could say that about all of coach Knight’s teams,” Self said. “They are scoring easier than anybody in the league right now. They score easy, take good shots. They are running motion like his teams did at Indiana.”

Kansas University guard Aaron Miles (11) fights through a pick by Colorado's Lamont Arrington, right, who was trying to spring Marcus Hall, left. The Jayhawks, who won Saturday's game at Allen Fieldhouse, will take on Texas Tech tonight in Lubbock, Texas.

KU’s players realize the Raiders will be tough tonight.

“They will be hungry coming off a loss,” KU’s Wayne Simien said.

Added Keith Langford: “They are the toughest team to guard in the league. Back screens, cross screens, motion … it’s real tiring trying to guard them.”

The Raiders are led by the backcourt of Ronald Ross (17.1 points per game) and Jarrius Jackson (15.2 ppg), plus swingman Martin Zeno (12.9 ppg).

“Their perimeter is so quick,” Self said. “They get so many points off their defense. They are a very, very fast team.”

And, of course, well coached.

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“I love it, the whole atmosphere, coach Knight, the Red Raiders. I saw a special on ESPN on his whole ordeal recently,” Langford said of Knight’s stormy final days at Indiana. “I can tell my family one day, my kids, that I got to play against his teams. He’s so recognized. It’ll be fun.”

Self has had no problems with the Hall of Fame coach, despite Knight often being grumpy while dealing with the media.

“I can’t remember getting any Christmas cards,” Self quipped. “(But) he’s always been nice to me.”

Fans haven’t always been nice to Knight — at least fans away from the home arena.

“I think when they go on the road, people choose to root against him and get on him,” Self said. “He shoulders most of the heat that might take some of it off the players. They’ve got a good team that runs offense as good as any team in America.”

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Knight never forgets: After the Raiders’ 88-81 victory over Oklahoma on Feb. 5 in Norman, Okla., Knight recalled his trip to Norman two years ago.

That’s when a couple of clock errors late in the game went against the Red Raiders, who wound up losing.

“When Oklahoma came back and made a really great run at the end there, the thing I checked to see was if we had the same time-keeper we had here a couple of years ago,” Knight told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I was glad that had changed.”

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No love for the trey: Knight was asked about his team’s 8-of-11 three-point shooting in Wednesday’s 83-67 victory over Baylor.

“There isn’t any question when you hit some threes it helps you, no matter how much I dislike the shot,” Knight said.

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Bumps, bruises: Langford, who hyperextended his left elbow early in Saturday’s victory over Colorado, wound up with 14 points in 29 minutes.

“We think he’ll be able to play (tonight). We’re not positive,” Self said Sunday on his weekly TV show.

C.J. Giles, who played for the first time in seven games, said he was “rusty, really tired” in the CU game.

Asked when he thought he’d be 100 percent, he said, “I think by after the Texas Tech game, I should really be ready.”

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Tough loss on road: Texas Tech led 21-5 on Saturday before faltering at Iowa State.

“This game was in reverse of the way we wanted it to go,” Knight said. “At the beginning of the game, we got off to such a big lead, (and) that worried me. I was more worried then than had we just played even. We inverted the game from what it should have been. If we could have gotten that lead in the second half instead of the first half, it makes a lot of difference.”

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This ‘n’ that: KU leads the all-time series, 15-1, and is 6-1 versus Tech in Lubbock, Texas, 2-0 in the new United Spirit Arena. … Knight is 4-10 versus Kansas and 0-4 while at Tech; Self has gone 2-3 versus the Red Raiders. … The Red Raiders are 11-1 at home this season, with the lone loss to No. 10 Oklahoma State, 76-66, on Jan. 8. … Knight is the winningest active Division One coach. Overall, Knight owns a career record of 845 wins and 326 losses

— Assistant sports editor Gary Bedore can be reached at 832-7186.