RECAP: No. 11 Tech downs No. 7 Baylor for second time

Wednesday, February 16

Lubbock, Texas

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

20-6,9-4Big 12

No. 7 Baylor

21-5,9-4Big 12

Baylor

Texas Tech

RECAP: No. 11 Tech downs No. 7 Baylor for second time

February 16, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Press Conference

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Kevin Obanor recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds to help lead No. 11 Texas Tech to an 83-73 win over No. 7 Baylor on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (20-6, 9-4 Big 12) swept the season series over the Bears (21-5, 9-4 Big 12) for the first time since 2005 after coming back from being down 39-32 at halftime and are now 16-0 at home this season. Tech outscored BU by a 51-34 margin in the second half with Obanor scoring 21 of his 23 points after halftime where he was 8-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. It was his first double-double of the season and the 31st of his career.

"The mindset was just to be resilient," Obanor said. "I thank my teammates and coaching staff for just motivating me and believing in me. It could have been easy to just to put my head down, but it was just that mental toughness and grittiness to keep going. There are two halves to basketball and I know the first half was slow but to God be the glory. We came out playing hard and came out victorious."

Tech is now 3-2 against top-10 opponents this season with two wins over Baylor and one against Kansas. The Red Raiders have beat at least one top-10 team in eight straight seasons and have now recorded 20 or more wins 16 times in 97 seasons in program history. TTU improved to 4-3 when trailing at halftime, is now 82-62 all-time against Baylor and has won 19 straight home games dating back to last season.

"I just told the guys we are playing well, but not good enough," said Texas Tech coach Mark Adams of his halftime message. "This is a really good team we're playing and we've got to pick it up second half in every category and be more aggressive defensively. I was trying to get these guys to realize what an opportunity they had and we were right there. We missed a few free throws and blockouts and a few mental mistakes but if we get those corrected then we can have a great second half. It's not important what I said, it's how they responded. This team is very resilient."

Texas Tech will now travel to Austin to play No. 20 Texas at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center. The Red Raiders earned a 77-64 win over the Longhorns in the first matchup and go into the game having won three straight in Austin and 8 of 10 in the series.

Down seven at halftime, Tech opened the second half on a 6-0 run and took its first lead at 43-42 on an Obanor 3-pointer before hit another one to push the lead to 46-42. The Red Raiders took control of the game with an 11-0 run that gave them a 64-51 lead with 7:42 remaining with Obanor once again hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Tech had also trailed 31-26 at halftime in Waco before earning a 65-62 win over then-No. 1 Baylor on Jan. 11 at the Ferrell Center.

"Kevin just put it in another gear in the second half," Adams said. He was close on several shots and I told the team that's just how this game is going to go, a game of inches and we've got to make up the difference. And he responded so well. You saw him just grab every rebound and hit those shots. Kevin Obanor put us on his shoulders and said I'm not going to let us lose and had a great 20 minutes. He is very deserving. He works hard every day and he really just took the game over."

Bryson Williams added 17 points and four rebounds, while Adonis Arms had 15 points and seven rebounds. Terrence Shannon, Jr. scored in double figures for the third straight game, going for 14 points and leading the team with five assists. Shannon scored nine of his points in the second half and had four of his five assists in the second-half rally. Along with scoring 21 points in the second half, Obanor had nine rebounds in the final 20 minutes to fall just one rebound shy of having a second-half double-double. His 23 points and 13 rebounds were both season-highs.

Williams, who leads Tech with 13.5 points per game this season, now has 1,979 career points and has scored in double figures 99 times in his career. He will go into the game against the Longhorns needing only 21 to reach the 2,000 point milestone.

Tech finished the game shooting 46.4 percent from the field and hit five of its seven 3-pointers in the second half. BU was 11-for-29 on 3-pointers in the game and shot 43.9 percent from the field. The Red Raiders finished the game 24-for-30 from the free-throw line, while BU was only 12-for-21 at the stripe. James Akinjo led the Bears with 18 points and seven assists and Adam Flagler scored 14 points.

Baylor had a 39-32 lead at halftime after shooting 14-for-28 from the field with six 3-pointers, while Tech was held to 8-for-24 shooting and just 2-for-9 on 3-pointers. Tech stayed in the game by going 14-for-18 at the free-throw line in the first half, including starting the game 9-for-9 at the free throw line before its first miss. Williams led the Red Raiders with 12 points in the first half by going 3-for-5 from the field and 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. Arms added nine points and three rebounds, while Obanor and Warren led the team with four rebounds each. Akinjo led BU with nine points in the opening half with seven Bears scoring going to the break. BU had a 31-26 lead at halftime in the first matchup against the Red Raiders in Waco.

Tech played the game without Kevin McCullar who suffered an ankle injury in the win over TCU last Saturday. McCullar is listed as day-to-day with the injury.

KEY MOMENTS
Second Half

Shannon drilled a 3-pointer and was followed by Nadolny slashing to the basket for a layup… A free throw made it an and-one and had Tech to within 39-38 just two minutes into the second half
Tech started the second half on a 6-0 run to get to within one before a Flagler 3-pointer stopped the run and gave BU a 42-38 lead
Obanor gave Tech its first lead of the second half with a 3-pointer for a 43-42 lead and then hit again for a 46-42 advantage with 14:39 on the clock… It was the final two baskets of an 8-0 run before BU hit a pair of free throws
Shannon got into the lane and threw down his second dunk of the game for a 48-45 lead with 13:42… Shannon had 10 points after the dunk to join Williams and Arms in double figures
Obanor hit a jumper at the free-throw line to get to 10 points and give Tech a 50-45 lead… It gave him a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds
Obanor hit his third 3-pointer of the half to give Tech a 61-51 lead with 8:28 to play in the game… He had 16 points after the shot that gave Tech its first double-digit lead of the half
Tech had an 11-0 run going with Obanor hitting another 3-pointer that bounce a couple times on the rim before going down… Obanor had 19 points after his fourth 3-pointer of the game and had 21 after a hook shot in the lane that gave Tech a 66-56 lead with 6:16 on the clock
Shannon made a layup that pushed the lead to 72-59 with 2:36 to play… Shannon had 12 points after the play
Tech took a 77-71 lead on a Warren free throw and then led 79-71 on a Wilson layup

First Half

Baylor won the tip but did not score on its opening possession… Shannon gave Tech a 3-0 lead with a layup and free throw on its opening possession
Arms hit Tech's first 3-pointer of the game for a 6-5 lead… Batcho would stop a 5-0 run by Baylor with a hook shot off an assist from Shannon to cut BU's lead to 10-8 just five minutes into the game
Tech started the game 5-for-5 at the free-throw lie with Williams hitting a pair to cut BU's lead to 16-15
Williams threw down a dunk off a Warren assist to tie the game at 19-all at the 10-minute mark of the game… He had nine of Tech's 19 points at that point in the game
Shannon gave Tech a 21-19 lead with a steal and thunderous dunk (8:19)… Shannon had five points after the dunk that came on BU's third turnover of the game
Williams hit two more free throws to cut BU's lead to 28-25 with five minutes to play… Tech was 7-for-7 at the line after his makes that gave him 11 points
Arms hit one of two free throws to cut BU's lead to 35-30 with 1:28 on the clock… Tech was 12-for-16 at the line after the split