RECAP: No. 24 Red Raiders 68, UTRGV 58

Saturday, December 21

Lubbock, Texas

1 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

8-3,0-0Big 12

UTRGV

4-8,0-0WAC

UTRGV

Texas Tech

RECAP: No. 24 Red Raiders 68, UTRGV 58

December 21, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score GAME BOOK Highlights Beard Press Conference PLAYER PRESS CONFERENCE

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech freshmen Jahmi'us Ramsey and Terrence Shannon, Jr. led in scoring and graduate transfers TJ Holyfield and Chris Clarke had nine rebounds each to help the No. 24-ranked Red Raiders to a 68-58 non-conference win over UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (8-3) extended their non-conference home winning streak to 53 games and handed the Vaqueros (4-8) their third straight loss after overcoming a one-point halftime deficit by outscoring UTRGV 42-31 in the second half. Tech, which has now won three straight games, shot 54.2 percent in the second half, including knocking down four 3-pointers after missing its first nine 3-pointers of the game.

Ramsey returned to the starting lineup after missing the past four games with a hamstring injury and led the Red Raiders with 15 points and added five rebounds. After scoring 13 of his 15 in the second half, he is now leading the team with 17.0 points per game and has led them in four of seven games he's played in. Shannon added 14 points, five rebounds and matched a career-high with three assists, while Kevin McCullar led the reserves with 10 points after going 3-for-4 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. Ramsey, who left the game against Iowa in Las Vegas with 10 minutes remaining after a left hamstring injury, was 6-for-12 from the field and hit two 3-pointers in the second half.

"He was being aggressive, a lot of times people come off an injury and it takes a while for them to come back," Beard said. "He practiced full time Wednesday and Thursday and we felt confident he was ready mentally and physically. We're not big into load management. I won't play a player unless they are 100 percent cleared by doctors and trainers."

Clarke scored eight points to go along with his nine rebounds, while Davide Moretti had seven points with one 3-pointers and going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. Moretti, who is the active NCAA career leader and season leader at the line, is now 42 of 43 at the line this season and is averaging 13.8 points per game with a team-high 24 3-pointers. Clarke leads Tech with 9.0 rebounds per game and also had two assists on Saturday to take his season total to 61. Holyfield, who had a season-high nine rebounds, also contributed eight points and four assists in the game. He is now averaging 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds this season through 11 games.

"I got to keep staying aggressive on offense. Keep cutting when I can and feed off my teammates," Holyfield said. "The more I got to the rim the more I got fouled and got free shots with the clock stopped. We like to make them play the price when we get to the line."

Clarke, who had started for Ramsey since the injury, returned to his role off the bench on Saturday after discussing it with his coach.

"Chris reached out to me personally and said 'look I just want to win I really prefer to come off the bench'," Beard said. "For Chris to make that decision is unselfishness, that's team basketball. That's how you win."

Tech had only four turnovers in the second half and was 12 of 17 at the free throw line to pull away for the 10-point win. The game was tied at 34 with 14 minutes remaining before the Red Raiders went on an 11-0 run that included the first five points coming from McCullar and a 3-pointer from Moretti to make it 43-34 with 11:26 to play. Moretti made two free throws to push the lead to 11 and it grew to 14 when Ramsey drilled a 3-pointer off an assist from Kyler Edwards with 9:45 remaining.

Edwards finished the game with six points and four assists for the Red Raiders who had 17 assists on 22 of 49 shooting in the game. Tech was 20 of 27 at the free-throw line and is now at 77.4 percent for the season to lead the Big 12.

Quinton Johnson II led UTRGV with 17 points after hitting three 3-pointers, while Jordan Jackson finished with 12 points after going 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and 4-for-7 from the field. The Vaqueros shot 42.3 percent in the first half but were held to 35.1 percent in the second. They finished the game with 17 turnovers and were outrebounded by three.

Texas Tech trailed at halftime for the fifth time this season with a 27-26 deficit at the break with the Vaqueros hitting four 3-pointers and the Red Raiders going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Shannon led Tech with 12 points at halftime after going 4 of 6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free-throw line, while Holyfield and Edwards had three each. Tech started the game on a 6-0 run with baskets from Shannon, Edwards and Ramsey before an 11-0 run by UTRGV had them leading 22-14 before Tech went on a 12-0 run to take a 26-22 lead. Ramsey had two points and three rebounds and Clarke led the team with four rebounds and had two points. The Red Raiders had 12 turnovers at the break, while UTRGV had 13 but was able to overcome them for the one-point lead with Jackson leading the way with nine points. Tech, which was 2-2 coming into the game with halftime deficits, was 8-for-10 at the free-throw line and the Vaqueros were 1 of 1.

Tech has now made a 3-pointer in 170 straight games, a stretch that came after going 0-for-21 in a game against Loyola on Dec. 22, 2014.

The Red Raiders return to action at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29 against Cal State Bakersfield at the USA before opening Big 12 play against Oklahoma State on Jan. 4 and Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 7 to complete a five-game home stand.

W.

??#4To1 | #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/VGieJAm5R2
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) December 21, 2019

QUOTES
Terrence Shannon, Jr.
On the game against UTRGV: "We got more aggressive on defense, coach beard and Adams told us we have to play more together. We have to do a better job connecting with each other. We have to practice harder, connect more with coaches, and hold each other accountable it can't be just from the coaches."
On Ramsey's return: "We are around each other a lot. I feed off of what he does and it was really nice having him back. I know he's been waiting to play since he's been out and when he got that dunk I said 'yeah, he's back' He got it going in the second half."

TJ Holyfield
On the game against UTRGV: "We tried to communicate more on defense. Be aggressive on both ends and value the ball more in the second half. We need to value each possession, value each shot and that will cut our turnovers down."

Chris Beard
On adjustments in the second half: "We tried to pressure (Levi) more in the second half. We wanted to settle down, a lot of our turnovers were happening when we were being aggressive early. We won the game tonight with our defense and had a three or four turnover second half. We've got to get that consistency when we get in Big 12 play because if we don't put two halves together it won't be our day in Lubbock."

On Kevin McCullar: "He's a very talented player, he's overcome a lot of adversity. He hasn't been 100% cleared thought the year and now he has. He has to learn to play with his strength. It's impressive what he's doing with no offseason.

On the ability to break UTRGV's press: "Our press breaker was good tonight. It opened up the floor for us, and Ramsey had 3 baskets on the press breaker."