Zach Smith poured in a career-high 25 points coupled with eight rebounds to spark the Texas Tech men’s basketball team to a 77-64 victory over LSU during the SEC/Big 12 Challenge Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

For Smith, he provided 16 of the 25 points after halftime en route to his third career 20-plus point performance. Overall, he was 8-of-10 from the floor and knocked down both of his three-point attempts. Smith also connected on 7-of-9 at the free throw line. He has notched double figures in seven of his last eight appearances.

Texas Tech (15-6) evened up its SEC/Big 12 record at 2-2 and has won both of its home decisions over Auburn in 2014-15, while LSU (9-11) was handed its seventh straight defeat. The Red Raiders pushed their nonconference home winning streak to 29 games dating back to the 2013-14 season. 

“In the first half, we made a lot of three-point shots,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. “The message at halftime was, “Now it is a different 20 minutes. We can’t rely on the jump shot.” We will put a couple of those clips on the highlight film at the end of the season, but that is over. Now, we have to move the ball and drive to get to the free throw line in the second half. In the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State games, we shot some good three’s. We just didn’t make them. When you live and die by the three, you are not getting to the free throw line. It hurts your transition defense shooting long shots, so I thought our guys did a good job.”

Smith was joined in double digit points by Aaron Ross, Niem Stevenson and Anthony Livingston. The trio combined to connect on 10 of Texas Tech’s 12 three-pointers for the game.

Ross dialed up 15 points and was making his first start since the Auburn game on Nov. 22. He filled in for Keenan Evans who missed the game due to injury.

Stevenson secured all 15 of Texas Tech’s bench points, his second-highest scoring output of the season. He also added three rebounds and three assists over his 26 minutes of court time. 

Livingston returned to double figures with 12 points for the first time dating back to the Oklahoma game on Jan. 14.

Devon Thomas tacked on six points and four assists followed by Justin Gray who filled the box score with four points, seven rebounds and a career-high tying five assists. Shadell Millinghaus added five rebounds and two assists. 

Texas Tech sank 25-for-52 from the field and knocked down a season’s best 12 treys on 23 attempts. TheRed Raiders converted on 15-for-21 at the foul line and held a 33-25 rebounding edge. Texas Tech also amassed 15 of the game’s 19 points on second-chance opportunities.

The Tigers were 23-of-49 shooting, 9-of-21 from three-point territory and 9-of-16 on free throws. LSU was led by Antonio Blakeney who pumped in 23 points and five rebounds. Duop Reath came away with a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Wayde Sims chipped in 10 points. 

Texas Tech lived by the three-ball with 10 of its 12 first half baskets coming from beyond the arc. The Red Raiders raced out to an 11-2 lead at the 17:51 mark aided by two Livingston triples and a Ross three-ball.

Ahead 17-12 with 9:55 remaining, Texas Tech took control 14 of the next 17 points over the next 3:30 off the clock. The run was capped by a Smith three-ball and a Gray layup in transition to make it 36-19 with 2:14 left.

LSU closed the deficit down to 39-27 heading into the locker room. Blakeney, Reath and Sims amassed all 27 points for the Tigers.

LSU got as close as 10 points at 46-36 with 17:03 to go, but Texas Tech answered with two more treys courtesy of Livingston and Stevenson to push the lead back to 16 points.

The Red Raiders stretched their lead to as many as 21 points as Gray found Ross for a layup to bring the score to 72-51 at the 3:58 mark. LSU tallied 13 of the last 18 points for the final 77-64 margin.

“Justin Gray, I thought today, was really gritty,” Beard said. “He is a little banged up right now. A lot of guys wouldn’t play today with the things that Justin (Gray) is going through his body. That is another great example, and somebody that I want to recognize. The ultimate warrior for our team is Justin Gray. Back to Zach (Smith), he is just a talented guy. I think that he is a guy that could play for money after college. He has a long way to go to get there, but I think that he understands that. The best thing about Zach (Smith), is he doesn’t get too high or too low. His demeanor is fearless. He doesn’t get scared or too high, and that is what I like about him.

Texas Tech returns to the rigors of Big 12 action with a trip to Texas on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT from the Erwin Center, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with the Watch ESPN app. 

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men’s basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.

(COURTESY TEXAS TECH SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT)