Texas Tech Athletics
10-3,1-1Big 12
Utah
8-5,0-2Big 12
Red Raiders go runnin’ past Utes
January 04, 2025 | Men's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Darrion Williams went for 19 points and nine assists and Elijah Hawkins provided 12 points and eight assists to help lead Texas Tech to a 93-65 road win over Utah on Saturday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The Red Raiders (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) scored points on their opening eight possessions and finished the game with six players scoring in double figures, 22 team assists and only five turnovers to secure the 28-point win in their first true road game of the season. Tech, which responded from dropping its Big 12 opener against UCF on Tuesday, came out hot and stayed that way by shooting 58.6 percent from the field and making 12 shots from 3-point range. The Utes (8-5, 0-2 Big 12) were limited to 42.3 percent shooting, including making just 6-of-23 from beyond the arc.
"We have great offensive players and are growing defensively," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "Our urgency and ability to take away their great perimeter shooting is what I thought was the difference in the game. Their scrap was there and beat us to some balls and got offensive rebounds that we needed to get, but our team really loves each other and was competing the right way. We are growing and getting better."
Federiko Federiko led the Tech reserves by scoring 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the game, while Christian Anderson added 13 points after going 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. JT Toppin added 11 points and four rebounds in his second game back after missing four and Chance McMillian led the team by playing over 35 minutes. McMillian contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. The Red Raiders also got production from Kevin Overton who finished with eight points and five rebounds and Kerwin Walton who hit a pair of 3-pointers for six points.
Williams was 5-for-8 from the field and went 9-for-12 at the free-throw line and is now averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season. He also had five rebounds and two steals in the win.
"We've been working hard on being more physical and rebounding," Williams said. "I think we did a good job with that tonight."
The Red Raiders led by 11 at halftime and were up 54-39 on a pair of 3-pointers from Hawkins and Walton. Tech was coming off a game against UCF where it was limited to just three 3-pointers but has now made 10 or more 3s in eight games this season. Hawkins led the Red Raiders by going 4-for-6 from deep, while Anderson hit his three, McMillian and Walton had two and Overton made one. Walton's second 3-pointer pushed the lead to 64-46 before an emphatic dunk from Federiko off an assist from Hawkins had the Red Raiders leading 72-53. Toppin, who was coming off a season-high 26 points against UCF, scored seven of his 11 in the second half where Tech outscored the Utes by a 46-29 margin. The Red Raiders led throughout the second half and expanded the lead by making seven of their last eight shots.
"You've got to really love the difficulty if you're going to have success in this league," McCasland said. "I saw that in this team. I thought Federiko was a big part of that. He came in and gave us a huge lift offensively and I thought his presence defensively caused problems in space. He rebounded and put pressure on the rim when they were taking away 3-point shots. JT got into foul trouble and came back in and helped us make that run. We're always going to be anchored by Darrion Williams but Elijah Hawkins set the tone in the way he was moving and making shots early. It really gave us a lift. It was fun to see our team really play for each other with six guys in double figures. To finish it defensively and score down the stretch said a lot about our team's enjoyment of it being difficult."
Texas Tech took a 47-36 lead into halftime after shooting 61.3 percent from the field, including going 6-for-13 from 3-point range and with 12 assists on 19 made baskets. McMillian and Federiko led the Red Raiders with 10 points each through 20 minutes, while Williams had seven points and five assists. Hawkins was 3-for-5 on 3-pointers and went into the break with nine points, four assists and two steals. Tech led 19-9 after the opening eight possessions with jumpers from Williams and Toppin, a pair of 3-pointers from Hawkins, a dunk from Federiko, Overton connecting from 3-point range and a second-chance basket and Anderson making two free throws to begin the game. The Red Raiders made a trip down the court and didn't score for the first time on their ninth possession with a missed 3 and were leading 23-18 going into the under-12 media timeout. The Utes took a 30-29 lead with 6:33 on the clock with a 3-pointer from Little before another Overton 3-pointer and Toppin jumper pushed the Red Raiders back in front. Tech was on a quick 8-0 run when Hawkins drilled his third shot from beyond the arc for a 37-30 lead with 5:35 remaining in the half – a shot that made the Red Raiders 6-for-12 on 3-pointers to begin the game.
Texas Tech continues its road trip by playing against BYU (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) at 8 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah before returning home to host No. 3 Iowa State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 11 at United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders are currently 8-1 on their home court this season and 23-3 at home under McCasland following an 87-83 loss to UCF on December 31 to open conference play after going 8-0 in Lubbock during non-conference.
The game was the first as Big 12 opponents for Texas Tech and Utah and evens the all-time series at 4-4.
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