Texas Tech downs Georgetown in Big 12-BIG EAST Battle
LUBBOCK, Texas – Jaylon Tyson and De’Vion Harmon scored 18 points each and Daniel Batcho recorded his second career double-double to help lead Texas Tech to a 79-65 win over Georgetown on Wednesday in a Big 12-BIG EAST Battle matchup at the United Supermarkets Arena. All five starters scored in double-figures with Batcho recording his double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, Kevin Obanor going for 11 points and Pop Isaacs adding 10.
The Red Raiders (5-2) extended their home winning streak to 25 games overall and to 4-0 this season. Tech, which led 41-26 at halftime and by as many as 23 in the second half, would see the Hoyas (4-4) fight back to make it a 62-61 game with an 18-0 run that was stopped by an Isaacs layup.
“We had to win the game twice,” said Texas Tech coach Mark Adams who is now 22-0 at home leading the program. “Home court gives them a lot of confidence. Give our fans a lot of credit. The game got really tight and they didn’t give up on us and started cheering and I think it really lifted our guys’ spirits and gave a little more confidence. I’m sure it’s had an adverse effect on our opponents, so a lot of credit to our fans and playing at home certainly makes a big difference.”
Tech returns to action against Nicholls on Wednesday, December 7 at the USA.
Harmon surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in his career in the game with his 18 points. A senior from Denton who played two seasons at Oklahoma and one at Oregon, he came into the game needing 12 points. He scored seven of his 18 points in the final 44 seconds of the game and also had four steals and two assists. Harmon has scored 78 of his 1,006 career points at Tech through seven games.
Tyson finished the game with a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds, falling just one rebound short of his first career double-double. He was 7-for-10 from the field and went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers. Isaacs hit two 3-pointers and had four assists, while Obanor had seven rebounds to go along with his 11 points. The Red Raiders were 8 of 19 on 3-pointers, hitting the most 3s in a game this season for the team and shot 50.9 percent from the field.
“I believe in all of my teammates,” Tyson said. “I believe in Pop. I believe in everybody from the top to the bottom. I knew he [Pop Isaacs] was going to hit the shot. I knew somebody was gonna get us going. We just have to believe in ourselves. I mean we’ve been together for months now. I believe in everybody.”
Batcho also had a double-double in the season opener with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Northwestern State. His 15 points followed his career-high 21-point performance last week against Ohio State while his 13 rebounds gives him five games in his career with double-figure rebounds. Batcho is now averaging 12.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game this season. Obanor leads the team with 13.1 points per game and has now scored in double figures in 95 games in his career, including six straight after having nine in the season opener.
Tech went on a 16-0 run and finished the first half on a 21-6 run to take a 41-26 lead going into the break. Batcho was leading the Red Raiders with 11 points and eight rebounds through 20 minutes, while Tyson had 10 points and four rebounds. Obanor and Isaacs each had six points in a half where Tech went 17-for-29 from the field and was 5-for-11 on 3-pointers. Isaacs and Tyson had two 3-pointers each. Georgetown was 10-for-28 from the field and 6-for-17 on 3-pointers at the half. The Hoyas had not attempted a free throw while Tech was 2-for-2 with Williams hitting both. Murray was leading GU with 10 points going into halftime.
“With new teams, young teams, adversity sets in it takes a team awhile to recover,” Adams said. “We’ve got to recover quicker. But even looking at the positive side is we’re up 20, 20-something points, and we really had to win the game twice, but we came back and really had to win the game twice, but we came back through that adversity and fought through it and made some free throws and plays. I was really proud of the way it ended. The guys really hung in there and, you know, kept their composure when it counted.”
Tech improved to 1-2 all-time in the Big 12-BIG EAST Battle.
KEY MOMENTS
First Half
Georgetown went up 3-0 with a 3 from Murray on its second possession… Tech would score for the first time on a Batcho dunk to make it 3-2
Tech took its first lead of the game on an Obanor basket with 17:54 on the clock
Isaacs hits Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game to go on a 9-0 run and take a 9-3 lead before a Heath 3 for GU made it 9-6
Georgetown took a 13-13 lead with a 7-0 run before a Batcho steal that led to Tyson scoring on a putback (11:40)… Batcho followed with his third 3-pointer of the season to give Tech a 16-13 lead and him seven points
Williams made his first basket of the game with a jumper (9:04) to give Tech a 20-16 lead… He was the sixth Red Raider to score in the first 11 minutes of the game
Isaacs gave Tech a 25-20 lead with his second 3-pointer of the game and was followed by a Harmon runner in the lane to extend a 7-0 run
Batcho got to nine points, pushed the run to 9-0 and had Tech up 29-20 with 5:41 remaining until halftime… He was 4-for-6 from the field while Tech was 12-for-22 at that point in the game
The run went up to 14-0 on a Tyson 3-pointer and 16-0 on a Obanor dunk before Georgetown hit a 3… Tech was up 36-23 going into the final media timeout of the first half
Tyson hit another 3-pointer to push the Tech lead to 41-23 and had the Red Raiders at 5-for-11 on 3-pointers after the shot… Tyson was at 10 points in the game and was 4-for-5 from the field (2-for-2 on 3s)
Second Half
Harmon got the Red Raiders going into the second half with a 3-pointer before Tyson hit his third 3-pointer to push the lead to 47-26 (18:47)
Tyson got to 15 points (a new career-high) with a runner in the lane to give Tech a 49-31 lead (16:54)… He’d go 4-for-4 on 3-pointers and had 18 with another 3-pointer to give Tech a 52-33 lead
Tech took a 60-40 lead with a Fisher free throw with 11:36 remaining… Tech was 4-for-6 from the line after he went 1 of 2… GU had still not taken a free throw
GU went on a 9-0 run to cut it to 62-52 on a Heath jumper and took the game to 62-54 with a pair of Spears free throws (7:56)… Spears took the run to 13-0 with a jumper after a Tech turnover and then Murray pushed it to a 15-0 run with another jumper
Georgetown was a on a 17-0 run and had it down to 62-60 with a Murray layup… The run was at 18-0 and it was a one-point game (62-61) after Ezewiro hit one of two free throws
Isaacs stopped the 18-0 run by GU and gave Tech a 64-61 lead with a runner in the lane off an in-bounds play (4:42)… Batcho followed with a dunk off an assist from Isaacs to push the lead to 66-61 going into the final media timeout of the game
Obanor knocked down four straight free throws to continue the run and put Tech up 70-61… Obanor had 11 points and Tech was on an 8-0 run after the game had been cut to one
Isaacs was the fifth Red Raider to get into double figures, hitting a layup to give Tech a 72-63 lead after GU had stopped the 8-0 run
Release provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics