Red Raider Recap: Tech 66, No. 25 Kansas State 65

Tuesday, January 10

United Supermarkets Arena

8:15 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

13-3 (2-2B12)

No. 25 Kansas State

13-3 (2-2B12)

#25 Kansas State

Texas Tech

Red Raider Recap: Tech 66, No. 25 Kansas State 65

January 11, 2017 | Men's Basketball

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The Red Raiders have collected four straight wins over ranked opponents by a combined seven points.

LUBBOCK, Texas – After making a critical steal with 21 seconds left and an outlet pass to a wide open Niem Stevenson for a breakaway dunk, it would be easy for Keenan Evans to think his job was done.

However, Evans sprinted down the floor to grab the offensive rebound and hit the go-ahead layup with the 14.3 seconds remaining after Stevenson's dunk attempt was blocked by Kansas State's Xavier Sneed.

The Red Raiders (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) got another defensive stop on the ensuing possession when Kansas State's Barry Brown missed a layup with 5.3 seconds to go.

Stevenson scooped up the rebound, and Texas Tech converted on three of its four free throws following a technical foul on Kansas State (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) to tuck away its fifth win in its last eight matchup against ranked opponents. The Red Raiders notched their fourth consecutive home victory which have come by a combined seven points.

"I thought we stayed the course and gave ourselves a chance," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "The play at the end of the game – I haven't seen it yet, but to my knowledge it was one of the best hustle plays I've ever seen where Keenan didn't give up on the play with Niem. We've got a thing in our program we call a 'Tuttle,' named after one of my good friends and former assistants George Tuttle. George's deal was you never give up on a play, ever. I thought it was like the classic football play where the wide receiver looks like he's about to score the touchdown, but the defensive back just doesn't give up. He runs 60 yards and barely pushes the guy out of bounds. I think that's what I saw. I think everybody thought Niem had a chance to go win the game. Then Keenan, you know, I didn't see it. I'm looking forward to watching it on film tonight. He just ran down the floor and didn't give up on the play. So, I thought that that was one of the most intelligent, maybe one of the best plays I've ever seen in college basketball."

It was the icing on the cake for Evans who piled up 16 of his game-leading 18 points during the second half after he was saddled with two early fouls which forced him to miss the last 10:07 of the opening 20 minutes.

Evans was 7-of-11 from the floor aided by a pair of three-pointers. He reached double figures for a career-best fifth consecutive game for the second time this season.

Zach Smith worked his way to 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He sank 7-of-11 at the free throw line.

Aaron Ross dialed up seven of his 10 points in the second half whereas Devon Thomas came away with six points, five assists and three steals.

Matthew Temple chipped in five points and two rebounds followed by Anthony Livingston and Justin Gray who added four points each.

Texas Tech was 20-of-46 from the floor, 6-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc and 20-of-26 on free throws. The Red Raiders did their damage in the second half going 11-of-20 shooting and secured 17 of the game's 23 points off turnovers sparked by a 9-0 edge during the second half.

Kansas State registered a 21-for-42 shooting clip. It marked the second straight opponent to hit on 50 percent of their shots. The Wildcats also nailed half of their three-point attempts on a 10-for-20 ratio. Kansas State pumped in 13-for-18 attempts at the charity stripe.

The Wildcats received 58 of their 65 points courtesy of their starting five. Kamau Stokes produced a team-leading 17 points ignited by five treys, while Dean Wade and D.J. Johnson totaled 12 and 11 points, respectively, before fouling out.

Kansas State extended a three-point halftime advantage to seven points, 50-43 at the 10:07 mark, on the strength of back-to-back layups from Sneed and Brown.

The Red Raiders answered with eight consecutive points during the next 2:33 off the clock. Smith kickstarted the flurry with a driving floater off the glass for a traditional three-point play. Then, Evans added a runner in the lane and a three-ball from the top of the key to give Texas Tech a 51-50 advantage with 7:34 left.

Kansas State would swing the pendulum back in its favor and take a 60-56 lead with 3:13 to go after a deep Stokes trey late shot clock.

Both teams would trade free throws before Texas Tech got it back to a one-point game at 62-61 in the closing minute. Evans drained two foul shot after being fouled attempting to drive, and Smith split his trip to the line after being fouled on a jump shot off an inbounds play.

The Red Raiders led by as many as six points at 18-12 in the first half, but Kansas State fired back with nine of the next 11 points. Stokes netted a quartet of three-balls which included the go-ahead shot to make it 31-28 heading into the locker room.

"They play such great defense, and you've just got to work so hard to get buckets," Beard said. "Then, they really had us on our heels. They shot 65 percent in the second half. We've got a lot of things to fix with our defense, but give our guys credit. I told the guys at halftime I thought we were getting shots, and we were just pressing. They were switching a little bit. We can fix that. We can help our players by bringing the offense up higher. I said, 'Guys, we're going to shoot 50 percent this half. I've got that, but you've got to meet me halfway on the defensive end to win the game. They [K-State] shot 65 percent in the second half. It was just a special effort by our guys. We got to the free throw line. We made some free throws in the middle of the second half. We were just trying to stay in the game. Then, we made some great plays late."

Texas Tech wraps up the opening third of its Big 12 schedule against Oklahoma Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center. Tipoff is on-tap for 7:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with the Watch ESPN 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 along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.