Red Raider Recap: Tech 83, Maine 44

Tuesday, November 14

United Supermarkets Arena

7:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

2-0

Maine

0-2

Maine

Texas Tech

November 14, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Coach Beard Press Conference Brandone Francis & Norense Odiase Press Conference FOX College Sports Recap Game2Maine-Texas Tech November14ChrisBeardQuotes November14TexasTechPlayerQuotes November14MaineQuotes

The Red Raiders are 2-0 for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's basketball team used a balanced scoring attack as seven players scored seven or more points during an 83-44 wire-to-wire victory over Maine to conclude the regional round of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tournament on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (2-0) have won their first time games for the fifth time in the last seven seasons and extended its nonconference home winning streak to 31 games dating back to the 2013-14 campaign.

Four players hit for double figures headed by Keenan Evans' 12 points and four assists. He pushed his streak to 22 straight games with 10 or more points, and the senior guard moved to within 38 points of reaching 1,000 for his career. Evans' 22-game streak is the longest for a Texas Tech player since Rayford Young pieced together 23 consecutive games in double figures during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.

Jarrett Culver and Zhaire Smith registered 11 points each on a combined 8-of-13 shooting effort. For Smith, he has reached double figures in back-to-back games to start his career and also grabbed seven rebounds. Norense Odiase and Brandone Francis secured eight points apiece as Texas Tech racked up a healthy 48-19 advantage in bench points.

Niem Stevenson tacked on 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds in an active 19 minutes of court time, while Zach Smith chipped in three points, six rebounds, three blocks and three assists. The three rejections enabled Smith to move within 24 blocks of former All-American Tony Battie's program record.

Tommy Hamilton IVI garnered seven points, three rebounds and a block followed by Davide Moretti's five points, three assists and two steals. The Red Raiders also received four points and four assists versus zero turnovers courtesy of Josh Webster, and Malik Ondigo also scored his first career points in a Texas Tech uniform.

"I thought we did a good job of trying to defend the three-point line," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "Every team has an identity. In competition, you try to stop what the other guy wants to do. It's a lot easier said than done especially at our level. Maine is a very good three-point shooting team. They are a team that is going to win a lot of games this year because of their ability to shoot three's. They have five guys out there at one time on the floor that can all shoot the ball. I liked our urgency, I liked our game plan and I liked our players buying into the game plan especially early. From their point of view, we did miss some shots so we were fortunate tonight. I think you have to give our guys credit because we had an urgency to defend the three for most of the game."

The Red Raiders sank 29-of-57 from the field and drained eight of their 10 three-pointers during the opening 20 minutes. Texas Tech also connected on 15-of-19 at the free throw line. The Red Raiders forced Maine into 17 turnovers and came away with 24 of the game's 29 points off turnovers.

Maine was limited to a 14-for-57 shooting clip and misfired on 18 of its 21 three-point attempts. The Black Bears were 13-for-15 at the charity stripe. Andrew Fleming and Ilija Stojiljkovic tallied eight points apiece to lead Maine.

Texas Tech snatched the momentum early and often en route to an 11-0 lead during the opening 3:11 of the contest sparked by a barrage of three-pointers from Stevenson, Evans and Culver.

The Red Raiders ballooned the advantage out to 24-3 with 10:48 remaining. Zhaire Smith got rolling with a two-handed slam, a layup and a pair of free throws. Moretti rattled home a triple, and Justin Gray capped the flurry with a 10-floater off glass.

Texas Tech stretched the lead to 30 points when Stevenson scored off an inbounds play out of a media timeout with 3:26 to go. The Red Raiders took a 49-13 edge into the locker room. The 13 points were the fewest points allowed in a half under Beard.

Texas Tech went up by as much as 48 points after Stevenson finished a traditional three-point play at the 6:24 mark of the second half. The Red Raiders held Maine to 44 points, the second-lowest total for an opponent, in 34 games under Beard.

"We take away a lot of things anytime we play," Beard said. "We will study our offense and our defense. We will try to get individual players better, and we will try to get our team better at the same time. I have a lot of respect for Maine. I thought the way they played in the second half – basically they outplayed us. That is a direct reflection of their coaching and their guy's discipline and heart. I thought it was a well-coached team. We played great early, and we made shots that made the deficit large at halftime. I thought Maine played great down the stretch."

Texas Tech begins its 2017-18 road slate with a pair of neutral site games at the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament over the weekend. The Red Raiders meet Boston College on Saturday and will take on either La Salle or Northwestern in Sunday's championship/consolation play.

Saturday's contest is set for an 11 a.m. CT tip from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. The game will be available online only courtesy of the Watch ESPN app. Sunday's championship/consolation action will be televised by ESPN2.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 100.7 FM The Score and AM 950 in Lubbock. Geoff Haxton will have the call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the Tune-In Radio app. Fans can interact live with Saturday's broadcast by following @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.