ELITE! Red Raiders Make Program History

Friday, March 23

Boston, Mass.

8:57 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

27-9

No. 11 Purdue

30-7

Texas Tech

No. 11 Purdue

ELITE! Red Raiders Make Program History

March 23, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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The Red Raiders will take on No. 2 Villanova in Sunday’s NCAA East Regional Final.

BOSTON, Mass. – The No. 14 Texas Tech men's basketball team ran to the finish line to claim the program's first NCAA Elite Eight berth on the strength of a 20-10 run over the last 5:27 off the clock as the Red Raiders dialed up a 78-65 win over No. 11 Purdue on Friday at the TD Garden.

Texas Tech (27-9) turned in a balanced scoring attempt with four players in double figures and showcased its depth scoring 33 of the game's 39 bench points. The Red Raiders captured their nation's best eighth victory over an Associated Press Top 25 opponent.

Next up, Texas Tech will tangle with No. 2 Villanova in Sunday's NCAA Elite Eight round with tipoff set for 1:20 p.m. CT televised by CBS. The Boilermakers (30-7) had their season come to a close in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.

"It was a hard-fought game, and we expected that type of first half," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "I thought both defenses were really hard to score against. Our offense opened up a little bit at the end of the first half. I think that was the little bit of a cushion that we needed. Then the second half, I thought we did a better job offensively spreading the floor."

"I just want to congratulate Purdue on a great season," Beard continued. "You know, I hate to see great players not be able to play late in the season. We've certainly had our share of adversity with injuries, and we feel for Purdue not being full strength. But I think you've got to give our guys a lot of credit. We made just enough plays to beat a really good, well-coached, talented Big Ten Purdue team. I'm really proud of our players."

The trio of Keenan Evans, Zach Smith and Zhaire Smith piled up 35 of their combined 43 points during the second half.

This dude had a night. #WreckEm #4To1 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/uSkbX9NLhl
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 24, 2018

Evans led the way with 16 points and connected on 9-of-10 at the free throw line. The 16 points enabled him to surpass Mike Russell (1976-77-78) for 14th place in program history. The senior guard has amassed 95 of his 122 points during the second half of his six March outings.

Zach Smith garnered 14 points on an efficient 6-of-8 from the floor and hauled down five rebounds. The 14 points was the second-highest scoring output of the season.

Zhaire Smith tacked on 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks. All 13 points for the freshman came in the second 20 minutes. Smith has tallied 410 points on the season and is four points shy of Martin Zeno's freshman record set during the 2004-05 campaign.

Justin Gray rattled off 12 points and canned six of his eight shot attempts. He cleaned the glass for a team-high seven rebounds. It marked Gray's first double figure scoring performance at Oklahoma State on Feb. 21.

Niem Stevenson added nine points and four rebounds followed by Davide Moretti's seven points and two assists. Tommy Hamilton IV chipped in three points and four assists, while Jarrett Culver tacked on two points, four rebounds and two assists.

As a team, Texas Tech registered a 28-for-59 shooting performance and connected on 5-for-17 from beyond the three-point line. The Red Raiders were a near perfect 17-for-18 at the charity stripe and secured a 34-30 advantage on the rebounding battle.

You already know. ??#WreckEm #4To1 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/05p3oad5qb
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) March 24, 2018

Purdue was 26-of-58 from the field, 7-of-18 on three-pointers and 6-of-6 on free throws. The Boilermakers were sparked by Carsen Edwards' 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Vincent Edwards filled the stats sheet with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Ahead 58-55 at the 5:44 mark, Evans started the final flurry with a pair of free throws and came off a screen to perfection for a three-ball on the right wing to make it 63-55 with 4:24 to go.

Then, Evans found Zach Smith on a screen-and-roll for a jump hook to push the margin to double figures. Zhaire Smith added a tipin off of a Zach Smith missed shot, and Evans sank two more free throws to extend the margin to 69-55 with 2:08 remaining.

Texas Tech salted away the 13-point victory and buried seven of its free throws inside the final 84 seconds.

The two teams traded punches in the first half. The Boilermakers jumped out to a 15-8 spread in the game's opening 6:15 courtesy of eight quick points from Vincent Edwards.

The Red Raiders found their groove on both ends of the floor and countered with seven straight points. A Moretti triple evened the tally at 15-15 with 11:17 left.

Texas Tech found another 10-point run to wrap the first half which turned a 25-20 deficit into a 30-25 lead. Back-to-back Gray jumpers gave the Red Raiders the lead. Moretti found Zach Smith for layup, and Evans went coast-to-coast for another layup in transition to end the charge.

?BIG MOOD.? ?WreckEm 4To1 #MarchMadness ?

A post shared by Texas Tech Basketball (@texastechmbb) on Mar 23, 2018 at 10:36pm PDT

"It's special for a lot of reasons," Beard said. "We all have a lot of pride from where we're from and where we go to school. We respect everybody that came before us. But the main reason it's special by far, not even close, the number one reason is these players. These guys have come together, and we started our first year and were close. This year, it's nice to get over the hump in a lot of ways. These guys have worked extremely hard. It's one of the most unselfish teams that I've ever coached. It's one of the best practicing teams I've ever coached. We have great senior leadership, and we have great young guys that come in and have allowed themselves to be led. It's a great thing for a lot of reasons, but to me the story is the players."

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders take on No. 2 Villanova in Sunday's NCAA Elite Eight Round. Tipoff is set for 1:20 p.m. CT televised by CBS and the NCAA March Madness app.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

POSTGAME NOTES

Texas Tech continues its historic season with a berth to the NCAA Elite 8 for the first time in program history.
With the win, Texas Tech is now 11-16 all-time in NCAA Championship games.
Texas Tech is now 1-2 all-time against Purdue. This meeting was the first between the two schools since the 1988 season. This is the first meeting in the postseason for the two schools.
Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard now has a 4-1 career record in NCAA Championship games. This is the furthest Beard has led a team into the postseason. Beard is 2-0 versus Purdue.
The Red Raiders lead the nation with eight AP Top 25 wins.
Red Raiders held the Boilermakers to just 25 points in the first half. Tech is 10-0 when holding its opponent to 25 or fewer points in the first half. Texas Tech is now 19-3 when leading at halftime.
Texas Tech's 78 total points ties the third most in the Red Raiders NCAA Championship history. Tech scored 78 points against UCLA during the first round of the 2005 tournament.
The Red Raiders shot 94.7 percent (17-18) from the charity stripe.
Keenan Evans led the team with 16 points, marking his sixth straight double-digit game.
Senior Zach Smith scored 14 points against the Boilermakers, recording his sixth double-figure game of the season and 47^th of his career.
Zhaire Smith tallied 13 points, marking his 27^th game in double figures. He has been in double figures in 12 of the last 14 games. Smith now has 410 points on the season, trailing only Martin Zeno (413, 2004-05) for the most points by a freshman in a season.
Justin Gray added 12 points on the night. He came close to a double-double as he finished with seven rebounds.