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Mississippi State
Men's Basketball Outlasts Mississippi State in Thriller at Puerto Rico Tipoff, 74-72
November 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2015
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Texas Tech men's basketball team ripped off 10 of the last 14 points over the final five minutes to emerge with a 74-72 victory over Mississippi State during Friday's consolation semifinal at the Puerto Rico Tipoff.
The win was career victory No. 540 for head coach Tubby Smith and enabled the Red Raiders to snap an 18-game losing streak in road/neutral court games. Texas Tech will turn its attention to Minnesota in Sunday's fifth place game at 1:30 p.m. CT televised by ESPNU.
"It was a good win for us. We had to really reach down and gut it out," Smith said. "Our kids showed a lot of toughness tonight, a lot of intestinal fortitude. We were up big, and then you're down. I compliment (Mississippi State coach) Ben Howland, he did a great job, certainly changing his defenses. He did a good job of getting us out of rhythm in the second half."
The Red Raiders (2-1) relied heavily on their starting five who provided 55 of 74 points, 24 of 36 rebounds and eight of 10 assists. Tech amassed 40 of its 74 points in the paint and scored 20 of the game's 29 points off turnovers. Conversely, the Red Raiders committed 10 turnovers.
Zach Smith amassed eight of his 12 points and grabbed four of his five rebounds in the second half. The 12 points for Smith was his second-highest scoring output of his career. He drained 4-of-6 from the floor and knocked down all four of his free throw attempts.
Devaugntah Williams collected a team-leading 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. He has secured double figures in Tech's first three games of the season. The three-game run for Williams matches his career-best streak which included the Missouri State, Northwestern State and Air Force contests last season.
Keenan Evans tacked on seven of his 13 points during the second half. He was 4-of-7 shooting and buried multiple three-pointers in a game for the first time in his career.
Toddrick Gotcher piled up 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals to give Texas Tech a quartet of players with double digit scoring performances.
Norense Odiase worked his way to a career-high tying 10 rebounds coupled with four points. The only other time Odiase has hauled down 10 rebounds was in last season's opener versus Loyola Maryland.
Tech received solid contributions off the bench from Aaron Ross, Jordan Jackson, Isaiah Manderson and Devon Thomas. Ross tallied five points and two rebounds whereas Jackson, Manderson and Thomas chipped in four points each.
As a team, the Red Raiders notched a 26-for-60 shooting effort which included a 4-for-18 clip from beyond the three-point line. Tech converted on 18 of its 23 free throw attempts.
Mississippi State was 27-of-61 from the floor and dialed up an 8-of-27 mark from three-point territory. The Bulldogs sank 10 of their 14 foul shots.
Mississippi State (1-3) was led by Malik Newman's 17 points and four assists. Gavin Ware came away with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Bulldogs.
Trailing 68-65 at the 4:05 mark, Evans delivered the equalizer courtesy of a three-ball from the right baseline. Smith and Gotcher rattled home a pair of free throws apiece to surge the Red Raiders ahead 74-70 with 1:57 to go.
The Bulldogs got back within a single possession following a Craig Sword layup. On the next possession, Smith followed his own miss with an acrobatic two-handed dunk to extend the Tech advantage back to 74-70 with 1:17 left.
Both team had opportunities inside the final minute. After a Ware layup, MSU's Travis Daniels missed two free throws which could have tied the game. Odiase had a chance with 27.2 seconds to put the game away, but misfired on a 1-and-1 opportunity at the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs cleared the floor for Newman who drove the right baseline during the final five seconds. He missed a runner long, and Ware was unable to bank in the putback attempt. Smith cleared the rebound for the Red Raiders as time expired to secure the 74-72 victory.
The opening half was a back-and-forth affair which featured 10 lead changes. Texas Tech faced a 22-15 deficit at the 10:38 mark before the Red Raiders fired off 22 of the next 24 points over the next 6:56 off the clock.
The bench ignited the charge which started with back-to-back baskets from Thomas. Ross nailed two free throws, and Jackson scooted through the lane for a layup to give Tech a 23-22 edge with 9:04 left. Following a Manderson layup and six free throws, Gotcher drove in for a contested left-handed layup. Smith and Evans capped the flurry with buckets to stretch the Tech lead to 37-24 with 3:23 remaining.
The Red Raiders would take a 41-32 advantage into the locker room. Mississippi State inched its way back into the game behind Newman, Ware and its 2-3 zone defense. The Newman-Ware duo compiled 21 of 32 points during the second 20 minutes, and the Bulldogs erased a 59-51 with 17 of the next 22 points over a 5:04 span to go up 68-64 at the 5:19 mark.
After a day off, Texas Tech wraps up the Puerto Rico Tipoff versus Minnesota in Sunday's fifth-place game at 1:30 p.m. CT televised by ESPNU and the Watch ESPN app. Before arriving at Tech, Smith served as Minnesota's head coach from 2007-13.
"I'm just glad we got the win tonight," Smith said. "It'll be interesting to see some of the familiar faces. Richard Pitino, I've known him sense he was six years old. Guys like Charles Buggs and (Joey) King, kids we recruited, we know a lot of people up there. It's good to see some familiar faces from Minneapolis. Again, it's another game. You coach so many games, you've got to prepare your team and make sure they come ready to play. The incentive is to leave here 2-1 instead of 1-2."
The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 93.7 FM, 104.3 FM and 950 AM in Lubbock. Brian Hanni and Chris Level will serve as the broadcasting team. The radio broadcast also will be available online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio 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 at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter.
Fans can purchase ticket packages to Red Raider basketball starting as low as $49 online at www.TexasTech.com, in person at the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office located on the East Side of Jones AT&T Stadium or via the phone at (806) 742-8324.
