The No. 24 Texas Tech men’s basketball team paid tribute to the program’s rich history and tradition and raced past former Southwest Conference rival Rice, 73-53, in its Throwback Game on Saturday inside Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.
The Red Raiders (9-1) once again featured a balanced scoring attack with four players scoring in double figures. After Rice (3-8) got off to a strong shooting start, Texas Tech turned up the pressure and stacked up a season-high 15 steals. The Red Raiders forced 26 Owl turnovers while committing just nine of their own, to run away with the victory.
Playing at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum for the first time since the 1998-99 season, Texas Tech extended its nonconference home winning streak to 36 games which sits fifth nationally only behind Duke, Arizona, Butler and Xavier. The Red Raiders have won 30 of 36 games during the streak by 10-plus points sparked by 20 of the last 22 contests dating back to December 2015.
“I just want to thank everybody,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. “Nights like tonight don’t happen without a lot of people behind the scenes doing it so I just wanted to recognize that. With the game, I don’t think we played our best game. I think the reason was Rice. I thought Rice played great, especially earlier. They spread us out. We were having a hard time guarding them. Then, they just started passing the ball around like a well-coached team. I think a lot of our struggles, and our frustrations tonight was Rice more than what we weren’t doing. I know this – our guys were trying hard – they were playing hard because we have so much respect for all the past players and coaches that were here. Whether it was Tony Battie or Andy Ellis or James Dickey, my good friend who was here tonight. Effort wasn’t a problem. Our guys were trying hard. I just thought that maybe the moment became a little bit too large early. For that, I’ll take the responsibility.”
Keenan Evans recorded a team-leading 13 points, handed out five assists and gathered three steals. The 13 points gave Evans double figures in nine of 10 games this season. It also vaulted the senior guard past Alan Voskuil (2006-07-08-09), Harold Denney (1963-64-65) and Norman Reuther (1964-65-66) into 27th place on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Zhaire Smith provided 12 points at an efficient 6-8 shooting clip while adding three assists. He pushed his streak to five consecutive games with 10-plus points.
Zach Smith and Niem Stevenson chipped in 10 points each with Smith shooting 5-7 from the field and Stevenson shooting 4-7. Zach Smith hauled in five rebounds coupled with a block and an assist.
Jarret Culver filled up the stat sheet with eight points and a career-high six steals to go with five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Davide Moretti poured in eight points which included a pair of connections from long range. He posted three steals, two dimes and a rebound, while Justin Gray pitched in four points and hauled down three of his five rebounds on the offensive glass.
The Red Raiders shot 49 percent and hit on 31-of-63 on their field goal attempts. Texas Tech controlled the interior with 48-12 advantage in paint points and a 34-6 margin in points off turnovers. With 15 steals on the night, the Red Raiders outscored Rice 14-0 in fast break points.
Rice hit a quartet of three-pointers during the first six minutes of the game but were unable to keep pace throughout the contest shooting 38 percent on 17-44 from the field. Rice finished 10-25 from deep for 40 percent shooting.
Connor Cashaw tallied a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. He went 5-8 from behind the arc en route to a 6-11 overall mark from the field. Bishop Mency and Robert Martin added nine and eight points, respectively.
The Red Raiders overcame a hot shooting start from Rice to erase an early eight-point deficit and took a 22-21 lead on the first of two Moretti treys. An Evans triple capped off a 14-1 run that pushed Tech’s lead to five with 3:57 remaining in the half, and the Red Raiders carried a 29-25 lead into the break.
After the Owls fought back to claim a 35-31 lead with 17:11 remaining in the game, Tech put together a 16-2 run to seize the lead for good. The Red Raiders forced six Rice turnovers during the spurt sparked by four steals.
Zach Smith and Brandone Francis got the run started with back-to-back buckets. Culver extended things with an and-one bucket, a steal and another driving score. Evans finished the flurry with a traditional three-point play and a dunk to push Tech’s lead to 47-37.
Rice would come as close as seven, but Texas Tech used a 9-0 run to turn what was a nine-point contest with 6:01 remaining into a 66-48 lead with 2:57 to go. Stevenson helped close out the tilt with seven points down the stretch.
“I think coaches probably don’t like to admit this, but you guys know I just kind of speak from the hip, truth teller, so anytime some things can be exposed in your team during a victory that’s good because you get right back to the drawing board and fix things,” Beard said. “It’s hard to really keep improving if you’re playing great. Tonight, Rice exposed some things so as much as I’m not very happy with that. I think it will end up being a positive because we’ll have some time to work on it.”
UP NEXT
Texas Tech will start the second half of its six-game home stand as it hosts Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, December 19. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. CT from the United Supermarkets Arena.
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
