Texas Tech Falls in Overtime at Butler

INDIANAPOLIS – Texas Tech battled back from a seven-point halftime deficit to force overtime at Butler but would ultimately fall by a 103-95 decision in a Big 12-Big East Battle matchup on Thursday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Chance McMillian matched a career-high with 24 points and set a career-best with eight 3-pointers, while Joe Toussaint had a career-high 12 assists and added 18 points. A season-best five Red Raiders scored in double-figures in the game with Devan Cambridge having 16 and Warren Washington adding 10 points and six rebounds. McMillian was 8-for-10 on 3-pointers in the game and also led the Red Raiders with seven rebounds in 36 minutes as a reserve.

“It was a really unique environment and you could tell that the crowd provided them energy,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. “You could feel it. Coach Matta has a really good team. I thought their flow was impressive. I thought rebounding could have been an advantage to us but they won that battle on the glass. We settled in defensively in the second half to get some stops but we couldn’t finish it with rebounding. We had chances, but their effort and intensity was there. We have to get significantly better before Big 12 play. This will help us get there and was a great college basketball game.”

Tech (5-2) was playing their first road game and forced overtime at 83-83 with Isaacs making a layup in the final seconds. Butler (6-2) would outscore Tech by a 20-12 margin in the extra-five minute though, not trailing after a Cambridge free throw had given Tech a one-point lead. Tech finished the game with a season-high 23 assists on a night where it went 36-for-68 (52.9 percent) and was 13-for-26 (50 percent) on 3-pointers. Darrion Williams added six points, including going 2-for-2 on 3-pointers while Isaacs, Toussant and Kerwin Walton had one each.

Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 26 points and DJ Davis had 25 for the Bulldogs who finished the game shooting 54.5 percent from the field and hit 12 3-pointers. The Bulldogs finished with a 42-38 scoring advantage in the paint and with a 40-24 rebounding advantage.

The Red Raiders will now return to Lubbock for a two-game homestand that begins with Omaha on Wednesday, December 6 at United Supermarkets Arena before hosting Oral Roberts on Wednesday, December 12. Tech is currently 3-0 on its home court this season and has won 25 straight non-conference home games. Omaha will travel to Lubbock with a 5-4 record following a 78-59 win over Bellevue on Thursday afternoon in Nebraska and no more games on its schedule until next week.

Butler led 45-38 despite the Red Raiders hitting 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) of their 3-pointers and having 13 assists on 14 baskets. McMillian hit four of those 3-pointers and had 12 first-half points in his reserve role, while Isaacs scored nine and Warren Washington had six points and six rebounds. Toussaint had eight assists in the first half to match his season-high and also had three points. The Red Raiders were 14-for-33 from the field in the first half while the Bulldogs took the seven-point lead after shooting 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) but just 4-for-12 on 3-pointers. Telfort was leading the Bulldogs with nine points, while Brooks and Screen had eight points each.

Walton hit Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game to give the Red Raiders an 11-9 lead before back-to-back 3-pointers from Isaacs and Toussaint made it a 26-22 game. McMillian would make his first to cut the Bulldog advantage to 31-25 and then 40-35 on his third. With a minute left in the half, he’d hit his fourth off the eighth Toussaint assist. Butler led 22-10 in points in the paint through 20 minutes and had a 19-14 rebounding advantage.

Darrion Williams started the 13-3 run that led to the game begin tied at 65 with 8 minutes left by hitting the first of two 3-pointers and then McMillian making his sixth. Williams made his first shot of the game to cut BU’s lead to 62-55 and then hit again to take it to 62-58. A McMillian 3-pointer cut it to two before Cambridge had a steal and fastbreak dunk to tie it at 65.

Tech was on another extended stretch with a 12-2 run to lead 70-67 on an Isaacs runner and took a 73-67 lead on the eighth 3-pointer of the game for McMillian who was 8-for-10 on 3s after the shot and matched career-high with 24 points. The game narrowed to 75-72 after a Cambridge layup that gave him 11 points and two free throws by him pushed it to a 77-72 lead with 3:10 to play. Butler would tie the game at 77 with a pair of free throws before a jumper by Isaacs gave Tech a one-lead and then Davis gave Butler the lead back with a 3-pointer in a frantic final stretch.

Toussaint gave Tech an 81-80 lead with a pair of free throws with 1:17 remaining before a 3-pointer by Telfort gave the Bulldogs an 83-81 lead with 25 seconds to play. Isaacs got to the basket and scored on a left-handed layup to force the first overtime of the season. In overtime, Cambridge gave Tech an 84-83 lead by making the second of two free throws to start the session. Toussaint would get in the lane, fall down, regain his footing, and sink a jumper in the lane for an 86-85 lead but Telfort would answer with a 3 on the other end for a two-point lead. Butler would go on a run to take a 92-86 lead in overtime with a goaltending call following the Telfort 3 and a Screen dunk.

McMillian also had 24 points last season while playing at Grand Canyon against SFA. He finished one 3-pointer away from the Texas Tech single-game record of nine 3-pointers held by Alan Voskuil who made nine against Kansas in 2009. The 12 assists by Toussaint were just two back on Stan Bonewitz who had 14 in 1996 against Fresno State and were the most since Chris Clarke had 11 in 2019.

Texas Tech is now 1-3 all-time in the Big 12-Big East Battle and fell to 0-3 all-time against Butler. It was the first time the two programs had played at Hinkle Fieldhouse against each other.

Release Provided by WES BLOOMQUIST Texas Tech Athletics