Red Raiders take winning streak to six going into Big 12 play

LUBBOCK, Texas – Warren Washington scored 10 points, had a career-high five assists, and matched a season-high with four blocks while Pop Isaacs scored 21 points to help lead Texas Tech to an 85-57 win on New Year’s Day over North Alabama to extend a six-game winning streak and close out non-conference play with an 11-2 record on Monday at United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders improved 8-0 at home this season and have won 30 straight non-conference home games in a row following a dominant performance over the Lions (6-8) where they never trailed and were up by as much as 34 in the 28-point win. Tech finished the game shooting 30-for-55 (54.5 percent) from the field, 8-for-20 on 3-pointers, and with 20 assists and only eight turnovers.

“Two things jumped out to me,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “One, we had nine guys with an assist today, which means that it’s not just one guy to worry about and then we had three guys with four or more assists. So, when you’ve got that kind of movement and the guys that you can trust to make the right play, I think it just shows that we’ve got a team that you can’t key on one guy. The more we move it, and that’s what I was really stressing, but I’m really thrilled with the way our guys are sharing the basketball and honestly, they’re doing it on both sides.”

The Red Raiders, who have four games of 20 or more assists this season, open Big 12 play at No. 20 Texas at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Austin before hosting Oklahoma State and Kansas State next week back at United Supermarkets Arena. The Longhorns (11-2) are coming off a 79-62 win over UTA on Monday at the Moody Center.

Washington finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds, a career-high five assists, and four blocked shots in one of the most well-rounded performance of the season. He’s now scored in double-figures in four games this season and is averaging 9.1 points and leads Tech with 8.4 rebounds. His four blocks matched a season-high and gives him 10 blocks over the past three games.

“It goes to show our chemistry is getting better,” Washington said. “We are getting more comfortable with each other. Coach has given me freedom here and believes in my ability to facilitate. I’m trying to get everyone involved. I felt like we did a great job of not letting up.”

Isaacs scored over 20 points for the second straight game following a career-high 28 points last week against Sam Houston. He was 6-for-12 from the field against UNA, including going 3-for-5 on 3-pointers and then also knocking down 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Isaacs is now averaging a team-high 15.8 points per game and has 493 points through 38 career games. Chance McMillian led the reserves with 16 points after making three 3-pointers and finishing the game 6-for-10 from the field. Robert Jennings added seven rebounds and six points, while Lamar Washington and KyeRon Lindsay each had four points as the Tech bench had 30 points.

From the starting lineup, Darrion Williams finished the game with seven points, four assists, four rebounds, and two steals, while Kerwin Walton had nine points and Joe Toussaint added eight points and four assists. Toussaint has now scored in double-figures in 11 of 13 games this season after being held to eight, but has eight games with four or more assists. Warren Washington’s four blocks were just one shy of his career-high and gives him 22 for the season.

Tech took a 44-27 lead into halftime after shooting 56.7 percent from the field and 6-for-11 (54.5) on 3-pointers in the first half. Isaacs led the Red Raiders with 10 points after going 2-for-3 on 3-pointers while Warren Washington had eight points and four assists. McMillian had nine points off the bench with two 3-pointers and Darrion Williams and Toussaint had three assists each for the Red Raiders who had 13 assists on their 17 baskets made. The Red Raiders won the tip and scored on six straight trips down the court with Walton hitting a 3-pointer on the opening possession, Toussaint making a layup on the second possession, Isaacs hitting a jumper on the third, Warren making a layup on the fourth and a jumper from the free-throw line on the fifth and Isaacs making another layup on sixth possession. A turnover on the seventh trip down the court ended the offensive explosion to start the game. The Red Raiders would take a 39-19 lead on a Warren Washington block that led to a McMillian 3-pointer before Isaacs made it a 42-24 lead with his second 3-pointer of the half. The 44 points were the second most this season following the team having 48 last Thursday in the win over Sam Houston.

The Red Raiders are now averaging 15.8 assists per game and only 11.3 turnovers. The team has had four games with 20 or more assists, including a season-high 24 at Butler in an overtime loss. Tech goes into Big 12 play on a six-game winning streak and averaging 78.0 points per game while limiting opponents to 64.5. UNA was limited to just 37.9 percent from the field and 4-for-19 on 3-pointers. Tech has not lost since that Butler defeat in overtime on November 30 in Indianapolis. Now, they head to Austin for their first game against a ranked opponent.

“They’re coming out of timeouts, they’re in practices, and that’s where I think we’ve made the most growth, is they’re talking to each other about winning,” McCasland said. “They’re talking to each other about the right play. It’s not individual, it really is them talking about winning, and how do we win and so that’s a credit to our guys who are really playing for each other.”

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