Red Raiders overpower Golden Eagles

Tuesday, December 12

Lubbock, Texas

8 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

7-2,0-0Big 12

Oral Roberts

4-5,0-0Summit League

Team	1	2	F
Oral Roberts	34	42	76
Texas Tech	38	44	82

December 12, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Press Conference Highlights Season Stats Career Stats

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Darrion Williams and Warren Washington both recorded double-doubles to help lead Texas Tech to an 82-76 non-conference win over Oral Roberts on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (7-2) are now 5-0 at home this season and extended their program winning streak to 27 straight non-conference home wins. Tech owned a 48-29 rebounding advantage in the game, including a 21-7 margin on offensive rebounds, and commanded the paint with a 32-16 scoring advantage inside against ORU (4-5). Washington recorded his first double-double of the season and the 10th in his career with a season-high 18 points and matching a season-best with 12 rebounds. Williams recorded his team-best third double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kerwin Walton made his first start of the year and finished with 17 points after making four 3-pointers while Pop Isaacs and Joe Toussaint each had nine points.

"There were two areas that I felt like we could dominate, one was on the glass, 21 offensive rebounds," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "And paint points. It felt like that was a big part of the game because they gave up two-point field goals and how could we leverage the rim. I thought just the rebounding and our ability to get it to the paint and to get to the free throw line was a big part of this game."

Isaacs led Tech with five assists, while Toussaint had four and Walton three. The Red Raiders finished the game with 14 assists on 27 made baskets, including going 10-for-29 on 3-pointers. Tech was 18-for-24 (75%) at the free-throw line and ORU was 4-for-4.

The Red Raiders were playing their first game without starter Devan Cambridge who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the win over Omaha last week. Kerwin Walton replaced him in the starting lineup. Washington, who now leads the Red Raiders with 10 double-doubles in his career, finished the game 8-for-10 from the field and had seven of his 12 rebounds on the offensive end. He's now averaging 9.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season after leading the team in scoring for the first time this season. Washington played with Cambridge last season at Arizona State and spoke on his teammate after the game.

"Devan does a lot for us on the court and off the court with the culture," Washington said. "Devan is a great example of what our culture embodies. He's a funny goofy guy, but he's always going hard on the court. He's always pushing everybody to their limits So, just replacing someone like that can always be tough, but we have confidence in all of our guys, so it's just next man up. So, we've just got to do this for Dev and pull together and make it work."

Washington now has 923 points and 647 rebounds for his career.

Tech, which finished with only eight turnovers, started the second half on a 10-0 run with Darrion Williams opening the scoring with a 3-pointer off a Toussaint assist followed by a Warren Washington tough basket inside and an Isaacs 3-pointer for a 48-34 lead. Another Darrion Williams 3-pointer gave the Red Raiders a 51-37 lead and him 11 points to be the first in double figures. Walton drilled his third 3-pointer of the game to give Tech a 68-58 lead with 7:30 to play and give him 14 points. Coming off a season-high 22 points in the win over Omaha, Walton's fourth 3-pointer pushed the lead to 75-64.

"Defensively, we just made some mistakes that we shouldn't have made, me included," Williams said. "We just got to execute it better. And offensively, I think we played better as a team, for sure, and it opened things up for everybody."

Robert Jennings added a career-high eight rebounds, seven being offensive while Williams added three offensive rebounds to the total. Tech's 21 offensive rebounds were a season-high, seven better than the previous high of 14 against San Jose State. Toussaint, Walton, and Chance McMillian had four rebounds each in the 48-rebound game that matched the season for the team.

"This team continues to grow," McCasland said. "I think we're getting better. We obviously took a step back guarding the three-point line tonight, but in other areas, I thought we did better. I mean, we didn't turn the ball over much till the very end when we started getting pressured. We didn't close the game very well. But I was thrilled with our physicality and that's a good team, it's a team that knows how to win and they can put you in some bad spots. So, give them credit for really playing well offensively."

Oral Roberts finished the game 16-for-36 (44.4%) on 3-pointers with Jailen Bedford going 6-for-8 from beyond the arc and finishing with 26 points while Kareem Thompson made five and scored 21. Issac McBridge had nine points after going 3-for-11 on 3-pointers.

Texas Tech took a 38-34 lead into halftime with Walton leading the team with eight points and Warren Washington at six points and rebounds. Tech had started the game 0-for-6 on 3-pointers before Toussaint hit the first in a half where they would go 5-for-14. Walton was 2-for-3 on 3-pointers for his eight points, while Toussaint had one and finished the first half with seven points. Darrion Williams added five points and Jennings had four. Tech was shooting 15-for-38 from the field while ORU was at 13-for-30. The Red Raiders owned a 25-15 rebounding advantage, including a 12-4 advantage on offensive rebounds. Jennings had six offensive rebounds in the first half while Washington had three. Back-to-back 3-pointers by McMillian and Lamar Washington started a 10-0 run that was at 18-12 on a Warren Washington dunk. Tech would go on another run, this time a 7-0 run, that had them up 29-24 on Walton's first 3-pointer before an ORU layup. Walton's second 3-pointer gave Tech a 34-26 lead.

The two double-doubles were the first for Tech teammates in the same game since Norense Odiase and Jarrett Culver both had one against Buffalo in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Culver had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Odiase had 15 rebounds and 14 points.

The Red Raiders will now play Vanderbilt (4-5) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Dickies Arena in the USLBM Coast to Coast Challenge in Fort Worth. Tech's next home game is against UT Arlington on Thursday, December 21 at United Supermarkets Arena before a weeklong break.