No. 23 Red Raiders top LA Tech for 24th straight home victory

LUBBOCK, Texas – De’Vion Harmon and Kevin Obanor scored 15 points each to help lead No. 23 Texas Tech to a 64-55 win over Louisiana Tech on Monday to extend a 24-game home winning streak at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (3-0) jumped out to an 8-0 lead, were up 32-27 at halftime and pulled away midway through the second half with an 11-1 run that was capped by a Harmon dunk to close out a three-game homestand to begin the season. Texas Tech has now won 24 straight home games, 18 straight non-conference home games and is now 21-0 at home under head coach Mark Adams.

“I thought defensively we were really good early and kind of set the pace,” Adams said. “I thought we were ready to play. Now they get a lot of credit they got back in the game, but we had just so many turnovers and got sloppy with the ball instead of just taking care of our business. We’ve got so many young kids on the team and it’s a lot of growing pains and we’re going to have to get through this. Again, I’m praying for patience and I have to remember that because we did get the win and the guys played hard.”

Daniel Batcho had a career-high six blocked shots in the win to go along with nine points and seven rebounds. Obanor would add eight points to his season-high 15 points to fall just two rebounds short of his 36th career double-double, while Harmon would match his career-high with six assists. A steal and layup by Harmon gave Texas Tech a 7-0 run and 46-37 lead before his next points put the Red Raiders up 50-38 lead.

Pop Isaacs scored a career-high 10 points in the win by going 2-for-3 on 3-pointers for the Red Raiders who were 7-for-18 from beyond the arc. Isaacs was the only Texas Tech player with two 3-pointers, while Obanor, Jaylon Tyson, Kerwin Walton and Elijah Fisher had one each. Tyson finished the game with seven points, three rebounds and two steals while Walton led the reserves with five points. Texas Tech had seven players score in the game, down from 11 in the first two games.

“I feel like we’re still learning a lot, but I feel how together we are,” Isaacs said. “When adversity hit, nobody panicked. We all stayed calm. We all said we’re good, keep going, get back to being ourselves, and hang our hat on the defensive end. I think we’re really good defensively. We’re really good in our rotations. I just feel so far we’ve learned that we’re really together and everybody’s having fun out there.”

The Red Raiders limited the Bulldogs to 37.7 percent shooting for the game, including 6-for-24 on 3-pointers. Texas Tech owned a slim 26-24 scoring advantage in the paint and also a 35-26 rebounding advantage. Obanor is now averaging 12.3 points per game to lead the team this season, while Harmon is at 11.3 points per game and 4.3 assists per game.

Obanor led the Red Raiders with 10 points and seven rebounds at the half after hitting a runner in the lane with three seconds on the clock for a 32-27 lead. Texas Tech led by as many as 14 points in the opening half before LA Tech had a 10-0 run to pull to within three. Tyson finished the first half with seven points, while Harmon had four points and a team-best three assists going into the break. LA Tech was led by Keaston Willis who had nine points and Kenny Hunter who came off the bench to score eight. The Red Raiders have led at halftime off all three games this season.

Texas Tech returns to action next week at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Red Raiders open the three-day, three-game tournament against No. 10 Creighton at 1:30 p.m. (CST) on Monday with the game being televised on ESPN2.

KEY MOMENTS

First Half

Tyson scored the game’s first points with a steal and dunk for a 2-0 lead… It was on the third Texas Tech possession
Harmon hit Texas Tech’s first 3-pointer off an assist from Isaacs for a 5-0 lead… Fisher would hit the next with Harmon on the assist for an 8-0 lead

LA Tech scored its first points of the game with a Crawford steal and layup with 14:38 on the clock

Tyson hit his first 3-pointer of the game to push Texas Tech’s lead to 12-2 seven minutes into the game… Tech was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers after his shot that gave the Red Raiders their first double-digit lead on a 6-0 run

Obanor got Texas Tech to 20 points with a runner in the lane to give him five points and the Red Raiders a 20-8 lead midway through the first half

Isaacs hit his first basket of the game with a 3-pointer to push the Red Raider lead to 23-11

At the Under-8 media timeout, Texas Tech was shooting 8-for-18 from the field with four 3-pointer while LA Tech was only 4-for-13 and was 2-for-9 from beyond the arc

Walton hit his first shot of the game to give Texas Tech a 27-15 lead with 3:53 to play in the half… He was the seventh Red Raider to get into the scorebook

Obanor hit his first 3-pointer of the game to give him eight points and the Red Raiders a 30-17 lead… He also had seven rebounds at that point

LA Tech was on a 10-0 run that was capped by a Stewart 3-pointer to close to within 30-27 with 30 second until halftime

Obanor hit a runner in the lane with three seconds remaining for a 32-27 halftime score… Obanor had 10 points and 7 rebounds at the half

Second Half

Harmon gave Texas Tech a 39-33 lead with an and-one four minutes into the half… He had seven points after the three-point play that pushed the lead to six
Walton hit a 3-pointer off an Allen assist to give the Red Raiders a 44-37 lead with 11:42 to play… He had five points and Tech as 6-for-12 on 3-pointers after his shot

Texas Tech went up 50-38 on back-to-back dunk from Obanor and Harmon under 10 minutes

Isaacs hit a 3-pointer to stop a 7-0 run by LA Tech to give the Red Raiders a 56-45 lead with 5:16 remaining… Tech was 7-for-17 on 3-pointers after his shot that gave him eight points

Harmon gave Tech a 58-48 lead on a layup out of a timeout with 4:08 on the clock… He had 15 points after the basket that pushed the lead to 10

 

Release provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics

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