LUBBOCK, Texas – Keenan Evans and Devaugntah Williams racked up 20 points apiece on a combined 12-of-16 from the field as the Texas Tech men’s basketball team secured an 80-71 Senior Day win over Kansas State Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (19-11, 9-9 Big 12) secured the program’s first .500 finish in Big 12 action since the 2006-07 season. Texas Tech will meet TCU during Wednesday’s opening round of the Big 12 Tournament at approximately 8 p.m. CT televised by ESPNU. It marked only Tech’s second victory over the Wildcats (16-15, 5-13 Big 12) dating back to 2008-09.
“I’m really happy for our seniors, Toddrick Gotcher and Devaugntah Williams,” Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith said. “Senior Day is an emotional day especially for Toddrick, being here as long as he has and what he’s gone through in helping to restore pride back to our program. I’m proud of Devaugntah Williams for making the commitment to come here and for stepping up coming off the bench and for starting today – I was really impressed. I was impressed with Kansas State. They’re as good as any 16-15 team in this country and as tough as any team we’ve played. We knew they’d come ready to play so I want to commend them on the great job that they did. Bruce Weber’s teams never give up. They never quit, and they didn’t today. We’re happy to get the win and pleased that we’re 9-9 (in the Big 12) and have a winning record overall.”
For Williams, he made his first start since the Arkansas game on Jan. 30. He collected his 10th career effort of 20-plus points and first since a 23-point performance against Texas on Jan. 2. Williams tacked on four rebounds and three assists over his 34 minutes.
Evans’ 20 points was his second highest scoring output of his career. He knocked down 6-of-7 from the floor and was 6-of-8 at the free throw line. He dished out three assists and added three steals.
Toddrick Gotcher and Zach Smith chipped in 13 points and six rebounds apiece. Gotcher has secured double figures in four of his last five outings, while Smith has reached the accomplishment in five of his last eight appearances.
The quartet of Evans, Gotcher, Smith and Williams combined for 66 points and buried 23 of Tech’s 28 field goals.
Off the bench, Aaron Ross added six points courtesy of a pair of three-pointers. Norense Odiase returned to action and recorded four points after missing the team’s last 12 games due to a foot injury.
Texas Tech connected on a 29-of-49 shooting effort and canned 7-of-14 from beyond the three-point arc. The 59.2 percent shooting clip was the highest allowed by Kansas State this season. The Red Raiders sank 15-of-21 at the free throw line which included an 11-of-14 mark during the second half.
Kansas State was 25-for-61 from the floor but misfired on 15 of its 19 three-point attempts. The Wildcats were 17-for-21 at the charity stripe highlighted by a 16-for-19 effort in the second half.
D.J. Johnson poured in 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats. Justin Edwards tallied 16 points and seven rebounds followed by Dean Wade’s 13 points and six rebounds. Wesley Iwundu provided a solid all-around effort with 12 points, four assists and three steals for K-State.
Texas Tech faced a 25-15 deficit at the 7:50 mark of the opening half before the Red Raiders turned to their pressure defense and rattled home eight of their 10 shot attempts to close the half on a 21-3 run.
Williams opened the flurry by driving and dishing to Smith for a two-handed dunk. Gotcher knocked down a deep transition three from just left of the top of the key before Williams provided a quartet of free throws to make it 25-24 with 4:21 left.
Following a Kansas State layup, Odiase drained back-to-back midrange jumper to tie the score at 28-28. Gotcher put the Red Raiders ahead with a contested driving layup, and Smith kept the charge going sailing high for a dunk off an Evans assist. Williams and Evans tacked on layups inside the final 36 seconds to give Tech a 36-28 halftime lead.
The Red Raiders kept momentum on their side out of the locker room with eight of the opening 10 points of the second half. A traditional three-point play courtesy of Smith and a Gotcher three-ball on the left baseline vaulted Tech to a 44-30 edge with 17:32 to go.
The Red Raiders took their largest lead at 59-41 with 9:37 remaining after an acrobatic Gotcher tipin with the left hand. Kansas State wouldn’t go away and fired back after the Wildcats pieced together 10 consecutive points to pull back to 59-51 at the 7:05 mark.
Ross keyed Tech’s response with a pair of three-pointers 63 seconds apart to enable the Red Raiders to regain a 65-53 advantage with 5:20 left. Texas Tech salted the 9-point win away and nailed 10 of its 12 free throws inside the final 1:45.
Kansas State started fast and hit 10 of its first 16 field goals to build a 23-11 lead during the game’s first 10 minutes. Wade sparked the Wildcats with eight points.
“We picked up our defensive pressure,” Smith said. “I thought we started doing some things defensively. We started trapping the pick-and-rolls. We were getting burned whenever they would pick-and-roll to the basket. We were sagging and helping too much. Barry Brown and Justin Edwards knocked down some threes because we were helping inside. Since we weren’t guarding them the right way, we started doubling the ball to try to get them to speed up, since we were playing from behind. I think that made a big difference. We got some turnovers out of it and were able to capitalize and score on the other end.”
Texas Tech squares off with TCU during Wednesday’s opening round of the Big 12 Tournament. Tipoff is slated for approximately 8 p.m. CT from the Sprint Center in Kansas City, and the game will be televised by ESPNU in addition to being available on www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
