Texas Tech Athletics
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No. 6 Kansas
RECAP: No. 14 Tech falls in Big 12 tournament final
March 12, 2022 | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY – No. 14 Texas Tech finished as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship runner-up after falling 74-65 to No. 6 Kansas on Saturday at the T-Mobile Center.
The Red Raiders (25-9) were playing in the program's first Big 12 final since 2005, while the Jayhawks secured their program's 12th title in the Big 12 tournament. Tech shifts attention to the NCAA Tournament which will be announced at 5 p.m. on Sunday with the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Selection Show on CBS. The Red Raiders, who had split with KU in the regular season and trailed 37-36 at halftime, advanced to the finals after a quarterfinal win over Iowa State on Thursday and a semifinal win over Oklahoma on Friday.Â
"We played a good offensive team and I thought our defense was good the first half," Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. "We held them under 40 percent and that's challenging to do and difficult against Kansas. Second half it wasn't quite as good, but we played a team that was really fast today and last night it was slow, so a lot of contrast. This will help us. I thought we improved in this game. I was impressed with a lot of things that we did, and I am proud of our guys' toughness. They continued to fight."
Bryson Williams and Terrence Shannon, Jr. were both named to the All-Big 12 Tournament Team after the game. Williams led the Red Raiders with 17 points, while Shannon had 14 with three first-half 3-pointers. Williams was 8-for-17 from the field in the game and also added four rebounds. Kevin Obanor gave Tech three double-figure scorers by going for 11 points and six rebounds in the game.
"We still have a lot of basketball to play," Williams said. "We're not finished. We have a lot of guys in the locker room that's learning from this and feeling that loss of a championship and guys that are hungry off this. So we're using this as fuel to the fire and we're going to stay hungry and be ready to bounce back."
Tech led 54-51 after Williams layup with 11 minutes remaining before KU went on a run to retake the lead and never gave the lead back. Another Williams basket with five minutes left made it a five-point game and it was 64-60 at the 3:08 mark with Williams scoring again. KU would grow the lead though and not let the Red Raiders get closer down the stretch.
Adonis Arms led the Red Raiders with eight rebounds and also had four assists, while Kevin McCullar led the team with five assists to go along with eight points and three rebounds. Marcus Santos-Silva added eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Tech finished the game with a 36-30 scoring advantage in the paint and shot 44.3 percent from the field. KU was limited to just 22.7 percent on 3-pointers where it was 5-for-22 and shot 43.1 percent from the field.
"No one thought at the beginning of the year that we would make it to the Big 12 championship and probably get a high seed in the tournament," Santos-Silva said. "So just proving people wrong."
KU was 25-for-32 at the free-throw line, led by David McCormack and Christian Braun who were both 8-for-9 at the free-throw line. McCormack led KU with 18 points, while Braun had 14 and Jalen Wilson and Remy Martin both finished with 12. Tech was only 6-for-13 at the line, taking 19 fewer foul shots in the game but also struggling to hit the ones they took at a 42.6 percentage.Â
"One of the obvious things, we've got to make our free throws and we've got to get to the foul line more," Adams said. "I think that was a big, big difference in this game. We've got to finish, find out ways to get better at drawing fouls and finishing those and making the free throws."
Tech trailed 37-36 at halftime after a 3-pointer from Williams with 15 seconds remaining in the half made it a one-point game. Shannon led the Red Raiders with nine points in the first half by going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, while Santos-Silva had eight points and four rebounds to lead the reserves. Arms did not score in the opening half but led Tech with seven rebounds and three assists. Williams finished the first half with seven points while Obanor and McCullar had four each. Tech finished the first half shooting 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) and 4-for-11 on 3-pointers (36.4 percent). KU as at 11-for-28 (39.3 percent) and just 4-for-13 on 3-pointers. Tech owned a 16-10 scoring advantage in the paint going into halftime and a 22-15 rebounding margin. KU led by one after going 11-for-15 at the free-throw line while Tech was only 2-for-4.
KEY MOMENTS
First Half
- Kansas won the tip and scored on its opening possession with a layup from McCormack… Tech answered with McCullar hitting a jumper on its first trip down for a 2-2 game
- Shannon hit Tech's first 3-pointer of the game for a 7-6 lead after two baskets from McCullar to start the game… His 3-pointer came after an offensive rebound off a missed 3 by McCullar
- At the first media timeout Tech had played nine players… KU had not subbed
- Santos-Silva hit his first shot of the game with a runner in the lane to cut KU's lead to 12-11 five minutes into the game… He gave Tech a 13-12 lead with an offensive rebound and putback
- Shannon hit his second 3-pointer of the game for a 16-15 lead… Tech had started the game 2-for-4 on 3-pointers with Shannon hitting both
- Shannon would hit his third 3-pointer to cut KU's lead to 24-23 with 8:23… Santos-Silva had a dunk to cut it to one
- Williams gave Tech a 27-26 lead (6:58) with a jumper just inside the arc… Williams had four points after the shot and Tech was 11-for-20 to start the game
- Obanor cut KU's lead to 35-33 (1:30) with a layup off an assist from Wilson
- Williams hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in the half to make it a 37-36 deficit going into the break… Williams had seven points after hitting the fourth 3-pointer of the half for the Red Raiders
- McCormack scored on KU's first possession of the second half with a layup and free throw to push the lead to 40-36
- McCullar got to the basket for a layup for Tech's first points of the second half… Williams would hit again for Tech which trailed 43-40 (16:57) after his shot
- Arms hit his first shot of the game to cut KU's lead to 47-44 with 14 minutes remaining… He had two points, seven rebounds and three assists at that point in the game
- Tech took its first lead of the second half after Obanor hit his first 3-pointer of the game to cut KU's lead to 51-50 with 12:18 remaining and Shannon would make a layup for Tech to take a 52-51 lead (11:49)
- Tech was on a 7-0 run with Williams hitting a reverse layup for a 54-51 lead before a Wilson layup for KU stopped the spurt
- Williams had a dunk off an assist from Batcho to make it a KU 63-58 lead with 5 minutes to play… Williams had 15 points with the bucket
