Sooners top Red Raiders in overtime

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech rallied from a 13-point deficit against Oklahoma in the second half to force overtime but would fall 68-63 on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (10-5, 0-3 Big 12) have now lost three in a row to start conference play while the Sooners (10-5, 1-2 Big 12) earned the road win for their first conference win after losses last week to No. 6 Texas and No. 25 Iowa State. Tech had won seven in a row over OU in Lubbock before the loss that followed defeats last week to No. 18 TCU and No. 3 Kansas.

Tech, which played without starters Daniel Batcho and Pop Isaacs due to injury, was down 46-33 midway through the second half before fighting back and forcing overtime with an 8-2 run to end regulation tied at 56. OU started to pull away in overtime with a 6-0 run before D’Maurian Williams made a 3-pointer for Tech to make it 64-63 with a minute remaining. Jalen Hill had a second-chance basket for OU on the other end though to push the lead back to three and tacked on two free throws at the end.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “We were shorthanded and I thought that we played hard for over 40 minutes, then even in the overtime. Some of our guys got a little fatigued because we didn’t have the depth that we normally do, but certainly proud of our guy’s hearts and how hard they wanted to win. After the game, it was a very emotional locker room and these guys love winning and hate losing. There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going continue to get better. It’s going to be a fun team to watch in another month.”

De’Vion Harmon matched a career-high with 23 points, while Kevin Obanor had 15 points and seven rebounds playing the entire game. Robert Jennings made his fourth start of the season and finished with eight points and Jaylon Tyson added seven rebounds and two assists. Lamar Washington added six points and rebounds in his first career start while Williams had five points and five rebounds to lead the reserves.

“I thought that Oklahoma came in here and played very hard,” Adams said. “They’re very difficult to guard and I thought they executed well and made some big plays down the stretch. They’re a very good basketball team. We have a lot of respect for them and how they played.”

Harmon, who started his collegiate career with two seasons at OU, scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and also added a team-high three assists. His 23 points matched two performances he had while playing for the Sooners.

Tech finished the game just 2-for-18 on 3-pointers and shooting 36.8 percent overall from the field. OU was 9-for-27 on 3-pointers and 41.5 percent from the field. The Red Raiders did own a 38-32 scoring advantage in the paint and made 19-for-25 from the free-throw line but couldn’t carry over the momentum from the end of regulation into overtime.

Jalen Hill and Milos Uzan led the Sooners with 18 points each, while Tanner Groves had 10 rebounds and seven points. Grant Sherfield added 11 points after going 3-for-12 on 3-pointers. Sherfield was the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year. He led OU with five assists and three steals in the game.

OU had a 24-23 lead at halftime despite Tech being up by as many as seven in the first half. Obanor was leading the Red Raiders with nine points and five rebounds in 19:34 on the court while Jennings had six points. Washington had four rebounds while Harmon had two assists and two points. Tech was shooting 36.0 percent from the field, including going just 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. Sherfield led OU with eight points at halftime. The Sooners were shooting just 37.0 percent and were 3-for-11 on 3-pointers. Tech had a 16-10 scoring advantage in the paint through 20 minutes.

The Red Raiders return next week with a pair of road games at No. 25 Iowa State and No. 6 Texas. Tech plays the Cyclones at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa before taking on the Longhorns at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Moody Center in Austin.
KEY MOMENTS
OU won the tip but did not score… Harmon would make a layup on Tech’s first possession for a 2-0 lead
Jennings hit Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game for a 5-3 lead… It was his second 3-pointer of the season making him 2-for-4 from beyond the arc
Tech took a 9-8 lead with back-to-back inside baskets from Fisher and Obanor six minutes into the game… The run was at 6-0 and lead at 11-8 after a Jennings layup… Tech had an 8-4 scoring advantage in the paint at that point
A pair of Obanor free throws gave Tech an 8-0 run and 13-8 lead going into the under-12 media timeout… OU had not scored in over four minutes and had started the game just 3-for-8 from the field and was 1-of-4 on 3-pointers
Tech had a 9-0 run and 14-8 lead before Sherfield hit a jumper for OU with 11:13 on the clock
Tyson scored his first points of the game on a contested layup to give Tech a 19-13 lead with 8:22 until halftime… He was the sixth Tech player to score in the game
OU took a 22-21 lead with a Sherfield 3-pointer with 2:48 to play until halftime… OU was 3-for-10 on 3-pointers with the shot from Sherfield who had eight points at that time
Obanor was up to nine points with a putback that gave Tech a 23-22 lead with two minutes remaining in the half
OU struck first in the second half with a 3-pointer by Hill to take a 27-23 lead… Jennings would hit a pair of free throws on the other end in response for Tech
Harmon tied the game at 27 with a layup following a pair of Jennings free throws… It was Harmon’s second basket of the game and had Tech at 10-for-31 from the field
OU hit three straight 3-pointers with Sherfield, Uzan and Nolan connecting for a 36-27 lead (14:37)… OU was 7-for-17 on 3s after the shots while Tech was just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc
Harmon slashed to the basket for another layup to stop the run and make with 36-29 before Uzan responded for the Sooners with a layup of his own on the other end (12:57)
Harmon got to double figures with 10 points after hitting a jumper in the lane to make it 41-33 (10:50)
Obanor got into double figures with a pair of free throws to give him 11 points… Tech trailed 48-37 with 8:22 to play after his free throws… Tech was 10-for-12 at the line at that point with Obanor at 5-for-6 and OU only 1-for-1… The free throws started a 12-4 run
Washington raced down the court for a fastbreak layup to cut the OU lead to 48-42 with 5:47 remaining… Washington had six points and six rebounds after the layup
Harmon converted an and-one with a runner in the lane and free throw to cut OU’s lead to 52-48 with 3:19 on the clock… Harmon had 17 points after the basket that gave Tech an 8-3 advantage in fastbreak points
Obanor made a layup off an assist from Harmon to get Tech to within 54-52 with 1:44 remaining… Obanor had 13 points after the basket
Harmon tied the game at 54 with another fastbreak layup with 1:15 remaining… He had 21 points after the layup that had Tech on a 6-0 run to tie the game
Obanor made the go-ahead basket off a Tyson lob pass… Tech took the 56-54 lead with 23 seconds remaining and on an 8-0 run (12-2 run over the last four minutes)… Uzan would hit a pair of free throws on the other end to tie the game at 56 with 14 seconds remaining… Tech took a timeout with 9 seconds to play but were unable to get a solid shot at the end of regulation
Down four in overtime, Williams hit a 3-pointer to make it a 64-63 OU with 58 seconds to play… It was Williams first made basket of the game and had Tech at 2-for-16 on 3-pointers
Tech was down 66-63 with 10 seconds remaining in overtime with the ball under its basket… A Washington 3-pointer was blocked and rebounded by OU which finished the game with a pair of free throws to finish off the game

Release provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics