Red Raiders knock off No. 20 Longhorns

Saturday, January 6

Austin, Texas

7 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

12-2,1-0Big 12

No. 20 Texas

11-3,0-1Big 12

Texas Tech

Texas

Red Raiders knock off No. 20 Longhorns

January 06, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights Press Conference

By: Wes Bloomquist

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Tech went into Austin and took a 78-67 win over No. 20 Texas in its Big 12 opener on Saturday at the Moody Center with Pop Isaacs going for a game-high 21 points and Warren Washington and Joe Toussaint scoring 15 points each.

The Red Raiders (12-2, 1-0) have now won five of their last six games against the Longhorns (11-3, 0-1) along with extending a seven-game winning streak and picking up their first ranked and road win of the season. Tech finished the road game with only nine turnovers, went 28-for-53 (52.9) from the field, hit seven 3-pointers, and made 15-for-21 at the free-throw line to overcome a 38-27 rebounding disparity.

"The way Big 12 games are, you have to stay connected for 40 minutes," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Their rebounding caused us problems but our ability to get to the free-throw line was the difference in the game. When we needed to step up defensively, I thought we did. For us it's about winning a Big 12 championship. You've got to win road games and win all your home games."

Isaacs made three 3-pointers and was 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to get over 20 points for the third straight game, while Toussaint is seven points from 1,000 in his career after leading Tech with 13 points in the first half. Toussaint led Tech with five assists and also had five rebounds. Washington finished the night with three blocks and was 5-for-5 from the field for the second straight game. Chance McMillian led the Red Raider reserves with 11 points, including going 2-for-4 on 3-pointers. McMillian hit his first 3-pointer for a 42-39 lead and his second 3-pointer pushed the lead to 55-51 lead with to play. Darrion Williams added seven points, two steals, and two assists and Robert Jennings had five points off the bench. Williams made a tough inside basket that fouled out Brock Cunningham and pushed Tech's lead to 69-61 with 4:31 to play as Tech took control and pulled away.

"We're a family. We had one goal in mind and that was to win," Washington said. "We weren't thinking about anything else."

The Red Raider defense overcame the rebounding discrepancy by limiting the Longhorns to just 6-for-18 on 3-pointers (33.3%) and only 9-for-14 on free-throw attempts. Tyrese Hunter led Texas with 20 points while Max Abmas had 18 points and five assists. Dillon Mitchell recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds along with having four assists for the Longhorns. Texas fell to 9-1 at home with the loss.

Texas Tech took a 37-33 lead into halftime with Toussaint at 13 points and Isaacs adding eight. The Red Raiders finished the first half shooting 15-for-30 (50%) from the field, were 3-for-7 on 3-pointers and had only two turnovers. Warren Washington added nine points on 4-for-4 shooting, while McMillian led the team with four rebounds. Isaacs was 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, including scoring Tech's first points with one on the second possession of the game and his second gave the Red Raiders a 31-28 lead. Toussaint led a 10-0 run for the Red Raiders that gave them a 20-17 lead. UT would stop the run, but Toussaint would respond on the other end with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 23-19 and give him his 13 points at the break.

Texas started the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 39-37 lead before a Warren Washington alley-oop dunk from Toussaint stopped the run and settled the Red Raiders who had committed two turnovers in first two minutes after only two in the first half.

The Red Raiders return to Lubbock for a two-game home stand with Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before hosting Kansas State at 3 p.m. on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena. Tech is 8-0 at home this season after rolling through its non-conference home opponents.