AUSTIN, Texas – Keenan Evans tallied a season-high tying 14 points, but the Texas Tech men’s basketball team was handed a 69-59 defeat by Texas to open the second half of the Big 12 schedule Saturday at the Erwin Center.

With the loss, the Red Raiders (13-9, 3-7 Big 12) were unable to pick up their first regular season series sweep of Texas (16-7, 7-3 Big 12) since the 1995-96 season. Texas Tech forced the Longhorns into 15 turnovers and scored 16 of the game’s 23 points off turnovers.

“I thought our guys really battled,” Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith said. “We’re pretty thin in the frontcourt without Norense Odiase and had to play without Matthew Temple for a majority of this game. We were right there in a one-point game and did a good job of battling back. We got ourselves in position, but again it was another tough loss for us. We didn’t execute in certain situations.”

For Evans, he sank 7-of-10 at the foul line and grabbed four rebounds over his 26 minutes of action. The 14 points also was a season’s best for Evans in Big 12 play.

Aaron Ross dialed up 11 points and four rebounds. He has secured double figures in seven of his last eight appearances.

Toddrick Gotcher chipped in eight points fueled by a pair of three-pointers, while Zach Smith turned in a solid all-around effort with five points, seven rebounds and four assists. Making his second start of the season, Justin Gray added seven points and three steals. Matthew Temple notched four points and two rebounds before he left the game with an injury midway through the first half.

Devon Thomas and Devaugntah Williams tallied five points and four points, respectively, from the bench. The Red Raiders had their run of three straight games winning the bench points battle come to a close as Texas held a 29-21 advantage.

Texas Tech produced a 19-of-49 shooting effort which included a 5-of-15 mark from three-point territory. The Red Raiders were 16-of-24 at the free throw line.

Texas amassed a 25-for-51 shooting clip and connected on 7-for-18 on treys. The Longhorns were an efficient 12-for-15 from the charity stripe and garnered a 34-24 edge in paint points.

Javon Felix worked his way to a game-leading 20 points on 7-of-15 from the floor whereas Isiah Taylor came away with 13 points, eight assists and three steals. Texas’ top bench performer was Kerwin Roach Jr., who picked up 12 points and seven rebounds.

“I thought our bigs and our guards that went down to help out with post defense did a good job,” Smith said. “Whenever you do that, you’re picking your poison. Credit to Felix and Taylor, they really stepped up and made shots when they had to.”

The two teams were tied three times and traded six lead changes during the first half. Tech overcame an 8-3 deficit during the opening minutes on the strength of eight consecutive points over a 4:23 span.

Gray and Temple kickstarted the run with transition layups off press breakers. Smith canned a turnaround jumper on the left baseline, and Temple tacked on a pair of free throws to make it 11-8 at the 13:51 mark.

Texas Tech maintained its lead until the closing two minutes of the stanza when Texas registered the last seven points capped by back-to-back baskets set up by Taylor. He found Connor Lammert for a dunk and connected with Tevin Mack for a three-pointer to give the Longhorns a 36-30 halftime lead.

The Red Raiders would get as close as 40-39 with 15:26 remaining after trailing by as many as eight points at 38-30. Williams fed Gray for a layup late in the shot clock, and Ross drained a 15-foot jumper on the left baseline. After Gray split a pair of free throws, Evans rattled home a runner in the lane. Then, Smith tipped an offensive rebound to Gray for a layup to bring Tech within a single point.

The Red Raiders kept the game within a single possession, but Texas reeled off seven straight points between the 12:03 and 10:17 mark to stretch the advantage back to 50-41.

Texas Tech would slice the margin back to six points on three occasions, the latest at 60-54 with 4:26 left, after a Gotcher triple on the right wing.

The Longhorns turned to Taylor, who distributed a pair of assists to Roach for a dunk and Lammert for a three-ball to extend the advantage to double figures at 65-54 with 3:08 to go. The 10-point victory for Texas improved the Longhorns to 7-1 in their last eight games.

Texas Tech begins a stretch of three consecutive games against ranked opponents Wednesday versus No. 13 Iowa State. Tipoff is on-tap for 8 p.m. CT from United Supermarkets Arena, and the game will be televised by ESPNU in addition to being available on www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

Courtesy: TTU Sports Information Departement