RECAP: Tech tops 100 points for third straight game

Tuesday, December 27

Lubbock, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

10-2,0-0Big 12

110

South Carolina State

2-13,0-0MEAC

South Carolina St.

Texas Tech

110

RECAP: Tech tops 100 points for third straight game

December 27, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Press Conference

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech senior Kevin Obanor scored 24 points with five 3-pointers to help lead the Red Raiders to a 110-71 win over South Carolina State on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders (10-2) made a season-high 14 3-pointers in their final tune-up before starting Big 12 play this weekend, extended their home winning streak to 29 games, are now 8-0 at home this season, and scored over 100 points for the third straight game for the first time since 1966.

"I thought we had a really good performance from the entire team tonight," said Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams who improved to 26-0 at home leading the program. "We came out ready to play and had a lot of intensity. It's always fun to shoot the way we did tonight. I thought we played a great game."

Tech opens Big 12 play this weekend against No. 18 TCU at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Fort Worth. TCU is currently 10-1 and will host Central Arkansas on Wednesday night before playing Tech at the Schollmaier Arena.

With TCU looming, all five Tech starters would finish the game against South Carolina State in double figures, led by Obanor who was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers and Daniel Batcho who went for 17 points and seven rebounds. De'Vion Harmon and Pop Isaacs had 14 points each, while Jaylon Tyson finished with 13 points. Harmon led Tech with seven assists in a game where the team had 26 assists on 38 made baskets. The team finished the game 14-for-28 on 3-pointers, falling just two shy of matching the program record.

Tech finished the game shooting 64.4 percent from the field. South Carolina was 40.3 percent – but only 4-for-23 on 3-pointers. Batcho finished the game 6-for-6 from the field and also had two steals.
Lamar Washington led the Red Raider reserves with eight points, three steals and three assists while Robert Jennings and Elijah Fisher scored five points each. Tech finished the game with a 48-36 scoring advantage in the paint and outscored the Bulldogs by a 22-11 margin off turnovers.

Obanor has averaged 21.4 points over the past five games where he is shooting 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) on 3-pointers and 55.7 percent from the field. He's scored 20 or more in four of those five games, including a season-high 25 against Eastern Washington before dropping 22 on Houston Christian last week. For the second straight game, he finished with nine rebounds to fall one short of his 37th career double-double.

The Red Raiders extended a season-high six-game winning streak with the victory over South Carolina State (2-13) following a 102-52 win over Jackson State and an 111-67 win over Houston Christian last week. Tech is now 71-4 all-time when scoring over 100 points and have score over 100 points in three or more games for the first time since the 1994-95 season. The last time Tech won three straight games by scoring over 100 was in the 1965-66 season with wins over Midwestern State (102-88), SMU (100-83) and Rice (108-90) in January of 1966.

Texas Tech took a 59-36 lead into halftime after hitting nine 3-pointers and shooting 19-for-28 (67.9 percent) from the field. Obanor led the Red Raiders with 17 points by going 5-for-8 from beyond the arc while Harmon had 10 points and Batcho and Isaacs had eight points each. Isaacs was 2-for-2 on 3-pointers at the half while Tyson and Fisher had one each. Tech had 13 assists on 19 made baskets, led by Isaacs with three.

The Red Raiders will host Kansas at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3 in their first Big 12 home game. Tech went 9-0 at home last season and is currently on a 12-game winning streak in conference play.
"I think our guys are playing well together right now," Adams said. "They are learning about their teammates. We are moving the ball better and are attacking the basket. That's been our plan. To push the ball and get a good shot as fast as we can. We just have to continue playing with more discipline and be tougher."

KEY MOMENTS

Tech won the tip and scored on its first possession with an Isaacs 3-pointer… Isaacs would score again on a layup to give Tech a 7-2 lead
Obanor hit Tech's second 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders a 15-6 lead going into the first media timeout of the first half… Four Red Raiders had already scored five minutes into the game with Obanor and Isaacs having five points each
Jennings hit a pair of free throws to give Tech a 17-6 lead – its first double-digit advantage in the game
Obanor hit his third 3-pointer of the game to push Tech's lead to 24-12 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half… Obanor had 11 points and four rebounds at that point and was 3-for-4 on 3s to begin the game
Batcho threw down a dunk to give Tech a 30-12 lead with 9:30 until halftime… Batcho had four points and four rebounds after the dunk
Obanor would hit his fifth 3-pointer to push Tech to a 36-17 lead… He had 17 points and was 5 of 7 from beyond the arc with the make
Tech took a 20-point lead with a Batcho free throw with 6:48 to play until halftime… Batcho had five points after the free throw
Tyson hit his first 3-pointer of the game to give Tech a 43-22 lead with 4:25 until halftime… Tech was 8-for-13 on 3s to start the game
Harmon got to 10 points with a layup to give Tech a 57-31 lead with 49 seconds until halftime… He was 4-of-6 from the field after the layup
Tech took a 71-44 lead with Batcho and Obanor having dunks on back-to-back possessions… The lead was at 30 (79-49) on a Harmon layup with 12:20 to play… He had 12 points and Tech had 23 fastbreak points after the basket
Tyson hit Tech's 10th and 11th 3-pointers of the game to push the lead to 87-53 on back-to-back possessions… Tyson had 13 points after the 3-pointers midway through the second half
Isaacs would give Tech 90 points with another 3-pointer with 8:46 to play… He would hit another on the next trip down for a 93-56 lead
Washington drove in for a layup to give Tech a 101-64 lead with 2:55 to play… It pushed Tech over 100 for the third straight game
CJ Williams made his first career basket with a layup for a 110-69 lead