Texas Tech comes up short against No. 21 Baylor

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech fell to 0-6 to start Big 12 play with an 81-74 loss to No. 21 Baylor on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (10-8, 0-6 Big 12) will now play at No. 13 Kansas State at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. BU evened its conference record at 3-3 with its third straight win.

“When you go through these losses it wears on you,” Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. “What’s important is that our guys keep their heads up and stay positive. No different than you would in life. There’s certain times when you have a bad day, bad week, bad month, and more, and you know, you learn from adversity. We challenge these guys to just not give up on themselves or each other and just keep fighting. We’re going to do that. We only had nine turnovers against a very good defensive team.”

Jaylon Tyson recorded his second straight double-double with a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Pop Isaacs scored 14 points and Fardaws Aimaq and Kerwin Walton both added 12 points. Aimaq, playing in his first home game after making his season debut last Saturday against Texas, was 5-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 at the free-throw line. He finished with nine rebounds, one shy of the 42nd double-double of his career.

The Red Raiders had only nine turnovers, but saw Baylor having only three in a game where both teams finished with 31 rebounds.

Tech finished the game 12-for-31 on 3-pointers with Walton making four and Isaacs and Tyson hitting three each. Kevin Obanor contributed 10 points and four rebounds while De’Vion Harmon led the team with six assists and scored four. Daniel Batcho played as a reserve, finishing the game with three rebounds, one block, three points and two assists.

Baylor led 48-40 at halftime and were up by 16 midway through the second half before the Red Raiders fought back to within five with a minute to play. Isaacs had made it a 77-71 game with a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining and had it at 79-74 with a free throw with 55 seconds left. BU would take the win though, finishing the game 11-for-29 on 3-pointers and 14-for-18 at the free-throw line. Tech was 8-for-15 at the line.

“The guys have a lot of heart and they want to win,” Adams said. “They’re very competitive. And again, I want to thank our great fans. I mean they helped us get back in the game and I can’t say enough about how it’s so nice to have our student section back. Our hope is that they won’t give up on us. Keep encouraging us and showing up to the games, and being loud and rowdy, and showing their support.”

BU freshman Keyonte George led all scorers with 27 points after going 5-for-11 on 3-pointers, while LJ Cryer had 18 points after going 4-for-4 on 3s. Jalen Bridges added 14 points and five rebounds and Adam Flagler had nine points and led the team with five assists.

Tech trailed 48-40 at halftime despite hitting seven 3-pointers and shooting 57.7 percent from the field. Tyson was leading the team with 12 points and three rebounds, while Obanor, Aimaq and Isaacs had seven points each from the starting lineup and Walton had six points to lead the reserves. BU was shooting 51.4 percent from the field and had hit seven 3-pointers, led by Cryer who was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and had 14 points. Bridges also had 14 first-half points while George had nine points.

Texas Tech will now play a Kansas State team which is coming off an 83-82 overtime win over No. 2 Kansas on Tuesday in Manhattan. KSU is 16-2 on the season, 5-1 in Big 12 play and 10-0 at home going into the weekend matchup against the Red Raiders.

KEY MOMENTS
BU won the tip and scored on its first possession… Tech responded with Obanor throwing down a reverse dunk on its first trip down and then Tyson making a layup for a 4-2 lead and quick BU timeout
Aimaq hit the first Tech 3-pointer of the game to make it an 8-7 BU lead… It was Aimaq’s first shot on his home court this season
Tyson had seven points after hitting a 3-pointer that cut BU’s lead to 15-14 six minutes into the game… Tech had started the game 2-for-6 on 3-pointers after his make
Tech tied the game at 17-17 with a 3-pointer from Isaacs for his first basket of the game… BU led 20-17 going into the under-12 media timeout
Obanor tied the game at 22-22 with his first 3-pointer of the game… He had seven points after the fourth 3-pointer for Tech in the first half
BU went on a 7-0 run to take a 29-22 lead and force a Tech timeout after a Flagler jumper… Baylor had started the game 11-for-19 from the field and 4-for-8 on 3-pointers… Tech was 8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc
Batcho stopped the BU run by making a free throw for his first point… He missed the second to make Tech 3-for-4 at the line to start the game
Walton would come up big with two 3-pointers to make it 36-31 before a Tyson 3-pointer cut the BU lead to 38-34 with four minutes remaining… Tech was 7-for-13 on 3-pointers after the shots… Tyson was at 10 points after his basket to be the first Red Raider in double figures in the game
BU took a 48-38 lead with a Cryer 3-pointer for its first double-digit lead before Isaacs hit a jumper for Tech on the other end… Tech got a defensive stop on the other end to get the final possession of the first half where a missed 3-pointer by Tyson took the teams into halftime with BU leading 48-40
Isaac hit a 3-pointer after halftime to make it 48-45 before a George 3-pointer for BU to start the second half… Tech trailed 51-47 after a Batcho dunk
Walton hit his third 3-pointer of the game and cut BU’s lead to 58-50… Walton had nine points after starting the game 3-for-3 on 3-pointers
BU would go on a 7-0 run and take a 68-54 lead into the under-12 media timeout after George hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game… He had 25 points after the shot and BU was 11-for-21 on 3-pointers
Walton would make his fourth 3-pointer to cut BU’s lead to 70-57 with 10 minutes remaining in the half… Tech was 10-for-23 on 3-pointers at that point… BU was 11-for-21
Tyson had a steal and fastbreak layup to cut it to 75-65 with five minutes to play… He had 16 points and two steals after the play that made it a 10-point game
Tyson would make it 77-68 with a 3-pointer with 3:29 on the clock and was followed by Isaacs hitting a 3-pointer… It was 77-71 with three minutes remaining after the pair of 3-pointers

Release Provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics

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