Red Raiders take exhibition win over No. 15 Texas A&M

DENTON, Texas – Texas Tech sophomore Pop Isaacs went off for 30 points with six 3-pointers and Devan Cambridge, Chance McMillian and Lamar Washington each scored in double-figures to help lead the Red Raiders to an 89-84 exhibition win over No. 15 Texas A&M on Sunday at The Super Pit.

“It was an awesome environment and A&M is a fantastic team,” Tech head coach Grant McCasland said. “They’re a Top-25 team and NCAA Tournament team. We have a lot of improvements that we can make, but I loved our competitiveness tonight. We competed and gave ourselves a chance to win because we played hard and together.”

The Red Raiders finished the exhibition by going 14-for-34 on 3-pointers and shot 28-of-56 from the field. Isaacs, who had a career-high 24 points last year as a freshman, was 6-for-10 on 3-pointers and also had three steals and two assists. Isaacs hit Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game, stopping a 7-0 run by the Aggies who led 12-8 after his shot and drilled his second 3-pointer to make it a 16-11 game nine minutes in.

McMillian led the reserves with 17 points after making four 3-pointers while Cambridge went for 14 points and six rebounds. Cambridge was 2-for-3 on 3-pointers and also led Tech with two blocked shots. Washington finished the game 5-for-6 from the field to score 13 in 24 minutes as reserve and also had two steals.

Texas A&M went on a 9-0 run to lead 76-74 going into the final media timeout in a game that was close throughout, before McMillian’s fourth 3-pointer made it 80-all with just over two minutes to play. Tech would regain the lead at 84-82 on an Isaacs jumper which was followed by him getting a steal and then hitting two more free throws for an 86-82 lead with 22 seconds remaining. He would add two more free throws at the end to seal the win.

“I felt like our team needed a live game under the lights against a really good opponent,” McCasland said. “You can hide in scrimmages. What and who you are. I wanted us to play one of the best offensive rebounding. Putting ourselves in public was something that I thought could help us grow. This is a great win, but it won’t have any bearing on our season. It really won’t. This is going to be about teaching and getting better. It’s a good feeling but it’s not about celebrating wins. It’s about getting better because this game doesn’t count. I’m excited about how we can grow from it.”

The Red Raiders are now just 10 days away from beginning a three-game home stand to open the season, starting against Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday, November 8 before hosting San Jose State (Nov. 12), and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 16). The three games at home leads into a trip to the Bahamas to play in Battle 4 Atlantis with a first-round matchup against No. 22 Villanova set for Nov. 22 at Imperial Arena.

Darrion Williams added six points and Warren Washington led the team with seven rebounds from the starting lineup. Tech finished the game forcing 14 turnovers to go along with shooting 50 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from the beyond the arc. Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 25 points after going 11-for-14 at the free-throw line and also making four 3-pointers. He is the preseason SEC Player of the Year and finished the game shooting 5-for-13 from the field against the Tech defense. Henry Coleman III added 16 and Tyrece Radford had 12 in the loss.

Tech took a 40-37 lead into halftime with Isaacs leading the team with 15 points and McMillian having eight. The Red Raiders were 8-for-20 on 3-pointers, including Isaacs going 4-for-7 and McMillian hitting two off the bench. Darrion Williams had six points, while Devan Cambridge was leading the Red Raiders with five rebounds and also had four points. The Aggies led by as many as eight at 28-20 with seven minutes remaining in the half before Isaacs hit three straight 3s and McMillian another to give Tech the lead. McMillian gave Tech a 37-33 lead on his second and the team’s seventh 3-pointer of the half before Kerwin Walton followed with his first 3-pointer of the game that gave Tech a 40-35 lead.

Texas Tech and Texas A&M were Southwest Conference rivals from 1957-1996 and Big 12 adversaries from 1996-2012 until the Aggies left for the SEC. Tech owns a 64-61 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to the first game on December 17, 1941. The Red Raiders won that contest, 48-36, in College Station. In regular-season matchups, Texas A&M has won the past six games in the series, including taking a 47-38 win in Lubbock in the last matchup which was played on February 14, 2012.

The exhibition was part of Compete 4 Cause Classic which began with a game between North Texas and Sam Houston. Ticket proceeds from the event will benefit relief efforts for the devastating Maui wildfires.

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Release provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics