Texas Tech attacks, downs No. 12 Kansas State in 71-63 victory

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech forced No. 12 Kansas State into a season-high 23 turnovers and finished on a 7-2 run to secure a 71-63 win over the Wildcats on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (13-12, 2-10 Big 12) turned those 23 turnovers into a 28-14 scoring advantage off takeaways to even the season series with the Wildcats (19-6, 7-5 Big 12). Tech led 33-26 at halftime in this game after leading 33-28 over K-State in Manhattan, Kansas before taking a 68-58 loss. This time, Tech held off a comeback that had the game at 62-61 with two minutes to play to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 10-4 at home for the season going into a Monday night showdown against No. 5 Texas.

“I’m just extremely excited for this team and it was great to see many of our guys make contributions into the game,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “We were just trying to be aggressive, and we told our guys when that opportunity presents itself just to go out and trap the ball. Let’s just pursue the ball as much as we could. We made some mistakes, but at least we’re aggressive doing it. It was good to see these guys attack the way they attacked tonight.”

De’Vion Harmon led the Red Raiders with 20 points and four assists, while Lamar Washington had a career-high 13 points and five steals. Jaylon Tyson added 11 points and five rebounds, Kevin Obanor went for 10 points and six rebounds and D’Maurian Williams finished with five points. Elijah Fisher made his first career start, finishing with three rebounds and two points, while Fardaws returned after missing the past five games. He played 22 minutes and had two points, one rebound and a +17 while on the court.

Harmon, who is averaging 13.3 points per game for the season, has now scored in double figures in seven straight games and 20 or more in four. He was 7-for-16 from the field and 5-of-8 at the free-throw line.

“Playing offensive ball and just playing hard,” Harmon said. “Play hard. There may be some things where we weren’t in the right spot, but we’re just playing hard and we’re moving. We ended up getting a steal or getting a rebound or being in rotation. This is playing hard and doing everything with the right intention.”

Washington had a previous career-high of 12 points and got into double figures for the second time in his career. After making starts against Baylor and Oklahoma State, Washington was back as a reserve against the Wildcats. He responded by going 4-for-7 from the field with two 3-pointers and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line. His five steals were the second most for a Red Raider with Harmon having six in a non-conference win over Eastern Washington.

“Trusting the process, trusting the game plan,” Washington said. “I mean every game we want to make our offense from the defense end and you know we want to get in transition and get steals. That’s the way we need to play every game.”

Tyson would start the game-securing run with a layup to make it a 64-61 game with 1:27 to play before a Harmon jumper stretched it to 66-61. Four straight free throws from Obanor gave Tech a 69-61 lead and sealed the victory. Obanor was 5-for-6 at the free-throw line in a game where the Red Raiders went 18-for-25 and saw K-State struggle by shooting 19-for-28 (67.9 percent).

Tech finished the night shooting 23-for-55 (41.8 percent) and limited K-State to 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) which was its second lowest this season. The Red Raiders made seven 3-pointers. The Wildcats made just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent). Tech came into the game averaging 19.2 points off turnovers per game before doubling up K-State with the 28-14 advantage.

Markquis Nowell led K-State with 18 points and four assists, while Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 10 points and seven rebounds. Keyontae Johnson was limited to nine points and eight rebounds after coming into the game leading the team with 18.0 points and 7.6 rebounds. The 23 turnovers were a season-high with the previous most being 21 against Rhode Island and 20 at TCU.

Tech took a 33-26 lead into halftime after going on an 11-3 run to end the first half. Harmon led the Red Raiders with nine points and three assists, while Washington had eight points and four steals off the bench. His four steals were a career-high, passing three games this season where he had three. Tyson had seven points and three rebounds, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers in the first half. Tech was 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) from the field and 4-for-15 on 3-pointers. K-State went 3-for-12 on 3-pointers and was shooting 9-for-26 (34.6 percent). Ismael Massoud led the Wildcats with six points off the bench with two 3-pointers while Johnson went into halftime with four points and two rebounds.

The Red Raiders improved to 16-7 against K-State at home and now trail the all-time series 25-24 after splitting the regular-season matchups.

“K-State is a great team,” Adams said. “They made us better tonight and I’m very fortunate coming out with a win. Their team is going to win a lot more games and then in the tournament as well.”
Tech now hosts No. 5 Texas which is coming off a 94-60 home win over West Virginia on Saturday. The Longhorns are 20-5 on the season and 9-3 in Big 12 play. UT won the first matchup, 72-70, in Austin back on January 14 in Austin.

GAME TRACKER & NOTES
For the first time, Tech’s starting lineup was Obanor, Tyson, Fisher, Harmon, Walton… It was the first career start for Fisher
KSU won the tip and scored on its opening possession with a layup from Tomlin… Fisher evened the game at 2-2 on Tech’s first possession with a runner in the lane
Tyson hit Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game for a 5-5 lead going into the first media timeout… Tech had missed its first three 3-pointers of the game
Obanor scored his first points of the game on a dunk off an assist from Washington to make it a 10-10 game with 13:42 on the clock
Washington had his third steal of the game at the 8:06 mark of the first half… He had three of Tech’s first four steals… KSU led 17-15 with 8:00 to play after an Obanor free throw
Washington hit a 3-pointer to give Tech an 18-17 lead (6:32)…. He had a team-high 8 points after the shot that made Tech 2-for-11 on 3-pointers
Tech and KSU were tied at 21-21 at the final media timeout…. Tech was shooting 8-for-26 from the field… KSU was 8-for-23
Harmon hit his first 3-pointer of the game to give Tech a 26-25 lead (2:25)… Harmon had five points after making Tech’s third 3-pointer… Tyson followed with a 3-pointer for a 29-25 lead
Harmon made back-to-back shots to give Tech a 33-26 lead with 24 seconds remaining in the half… He had nine points to lead all scorers going into the break
Washington had 10 points after a pair of free throws for a 37-31 lead before a Tyson layup gave Tech a 39-33 advantage with 16:30 to play
Obanor committed his fourth foul with 13:27 to play… The foul sent Tomlin to the line where he made two free throws to cut Tech’s lead to 43-37
Allen stopped a 6-0 run by KSU with a hard-take to the basket for a layup and foul… He hit the free throw for a 46-41 lead with 11 minutes to play… It was his first points of the game
Washington hit a 3-pointer to give him 13 points and Tech a 49-44 lead (10:29)… It was Tech’s fifth 3-pointer and pushed Washington over his previous career-high
Washington’s fifth steal of the game led to a fastbreak layup by Harmon for a 54-51 lead with 7:50 remaining… Tech had a 23-10 scoring advantage off turnovers at that point… Harmon was at 15 points
Williams hit a 3-pointer from the corner for a 57-51 lead (6:32)… Tech was 6-for-21 on 3-pointers after his shot in front of his teammates on the sideline… It was his first 3-pointer in three games
Obanor hit from the same spot, drilling a 3-pointer for a 60-55 lead with 5:24 to play… He had six points after his first make of the second half
KSU cut it to 60-59 with a step-back 3 from Johnson… The Wildcats were just 6-for-23 from beyond the arc after the shot that gave him nine points
A pair of free throws by Harmon pushed Tech’s lead to three with three to play… He had 17 points and Tech was 13-for-19 on free throws
Tyson had a putback for a 64-61 lead with 1:27 remaining and was followed by a Harmon jumper to extend the lead to five… Obanor pushed the lead to 70-61 with four straight free throws (0:28)

Release provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics