Red Raider Recap: No. 10 Tech 73, Texas 71 (OT)

Wednesday, January 31

United Supermarkets Arena

8:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

18-4 (6-3B12)

Texas

14-8 (4-5B12)

OT 1

Texas

Texas Tech

Red Raider Recap: No. 10 Tech 73, Texas 71 (OT)

February 01, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights Coach Beard Press Conference Keenan Evans & Tommy Hamilton IV Postgame Texas Tech Quotes Texas Quotes

The Red Raiders extended their home winning streak to 15 games with an overtime win over Texas.

LUBBOCK, Texas – It's a shot that Keenan Evans practices every day. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week took his defender off the dribble and drained a stepback 17-foot jumper at the top of the key as time expired to vault the No. 10 Texas Tech men's basketball team to a 73-71 overtime victory over Texas on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (18-4, 6-3 Big 12) were playing in-front of their second sellout on the season. Texas Tech has tucked away victories in 18 of its first 22 games to match the second-best start in program history with the 1953-54 team. The 1995-96 squad amassed a 30-1 mark under James Dickey highlighted by a program-best 23-game winning streak.

"I'm a huge basketball fan," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "I grew up watching NBA every night that I could. On Saturday, you could watch the national television (game). I remember when the announcers, Hubie Brown, would be like 'That's such a great game, the team that gets the ball last is going to win.' I think that's exactly what happened tonight. We were fortunate enough to have the last possession, and then Keenan made a play. I feel like Texas played well enough to win the game tonight. First of all, hats off to them, how talented they are. We're pleased to win. Every time you win a big 12 game, you take it in any fashion you can get it. Tonight was extra special because we have so much respect for Texas. We understand how well-coached they are, and how much talent they have. I'm proud of our players. It wasn't pretty, but we showed a lot of grit and toughness especially in the first four minutes of the overtime. I'm pleased to win."

Evans pumped in 21 of his career-high 38 points during the second half and overtime. The 38 points are the most by a Texas Tech player since Mike Singletary registered 43 points against Texas A&M on March 11, 2009 at the Big 12 Championships.

Evans was 9-of-13 from the floor and drained a pair of three-pointers. He rattled home 18-of-20 at the foul line. The 18 free throws made are tied for second-most during a game with Rayford Young who accomplished the feat versus No. 24 Kansas on Feb. 13, 1999.

Evans is the eighth player in program history to rip off back-to-back games with 30-plus points. Andre Emmett is the last and came away with consecutive 31-point performances against New Mexico and New Mexico State on Dec. 18 & 21, 2002. The 38 points enabled Evans to surpass Don Grove (1944-45-48-49) and Del Ray Mounts (1960-61-62) for 20th place on the program's all-time scoring list.

"What you do as a coach and a player, you try to play the game the correct way," Beard said. "That's why I was so frustrated in the first half. That's not the way you finish the first half. You take the last shot, give yourself a couple seconds to get an offensive rebound, but you never give the opponent the chance to go down and score. We almost lost the game in regulation because of that. I was proud of myself for not making a big deal about it. At the end of the game, we played the right way. We had our best player with the ball with a shot that he can make. Keenan works on that shot every day. Those are the game winners. The more talented you are, the more game shots you have. Keenan is pretty talented, and he has all sorts of stuff in his trick bag."

Once again, Tommy Hamilton IV and Norense Odiase provided strong play on the interior. The duo combined for 13 points and 18 rebounds. Hamilton IV notched eight points and seven rebounds whereas Odiase cleared the glass for 11 rebounds, his second-highest career output.

Zhaire Smith came away with a solid all-around effort with eight points, five rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists. Jarrett Culver tacked on six points, three rebounds and two blocks. The freshmen pair made their fourth consecutive start together.

Brandone Francis secured five points and three rebounds followed by three points courtesy of Niem Stevenson.

As a team, Texas Tech knocked down 22-of-52 on its field goal attempts and connected on 5-of-17 on three-pointers. The Red Raiders were 24-of-37 at the charity stripe but hit on 3-of-4 during the overtime session. Tech held a 30-24 advantage in paint points and battled on the boards to a slight 39-37 deficit.

Texas was 24-for-65 shooting which included a 10-for-27 clip from three-point territory. The Longhorns managed a 13-for-26 effort on free throws. Texas held a 19-12 edge in points off turnovers.

Kerwin Roach II garnered a second 20-point performance versus Texas Tech on the season. He added four assists, four rebounds and two steals. Mohamed Bamba claimed another double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. Matt Coleman and Eric Davis Jr. notched 12 and 11 points, respectively, to give the Longhorns four players in double figures.

The Red Raiders faced a 64-59 deficit at the 1:25 mark and used five free throws down the stretch to send the game to overtime. Evans had an opportunity to put Texas Tech ahead in regulation but split his free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining.

The Red Raiders kept their eye on the prize and scored six of the first seven of overtime. Evans set his new career-high with a driving left-handed layup. After two free throws, he drove and dished to Jarrett Culver on the baseline who used one dribble before unloading a two-handed slam to make it 70-65 with 2:20 left.

Texas crept back into the contest behind two Roach II three-balls, the later coming with 13 seconds to go to deadlock the score at 71-71. Texas Tech elected to not use a timeout and set the stage for Evans' game-winner.

The two teams played a majority of the opening half inside one possession of each other. Ahead 28-26 with 3:40 on the clock, Texas Tech put together an 8-3 finishing kick.

The Red Raiders got rolling as Josh Webster found Odiase for a dunk. Evans and Smith hit on four free throws sandwiched around an Evans layup where he finished with a defender on his hip to take a 36-29 edge into the locker room.

Texas Tech would stretch its advantage to double figures during the opening 2:05 of the second half. Evans continued to pour in points with another layup and a stepback trey from the right wing. The Red Raiders led by as many as 51-38 at the 13:07 mark when Culver finished with a layup.

Texas turned the tables with 26 of the next 34 points over the next 12 minutes off the clock. The Red Raiders were limited to a pair of field goals during that span. The trio of Bamba, Davis Jr. and Roach II accounted for 19 of the 26 points for the Longhorns which brought the tally to 64-59 with 1:25 left.

"We're really fortunate to win the game tonight," Beard said. "I know from Texas' perspective they should have made more free-throws, but we didn't either. I think if they had the ball last, we would have been beat tonight. I think you have to give our guys credit for being physically tough. In the first four minutes of the overtime, we were really tough. We made some mistakes in the last minute, but there was a physical toughness out there tonight. Obviously, there was mental toughness. That's what mental toughness is and four-to-one is all about. Being down and it looks impossible, but you play the game to the bone. I thought our guys did that tonight."

UP NEXT
Texas Tech makes the turn and starts the second half of the Big 12 schedule at TCU on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT from Schollmaier Arena. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the 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 by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.