Texas Tech eliminates 23-pt
LUBBOCK, Texas– Texas Tech coach Mark Adams was simply delighted fans remained for the biggest return in school history and the first Huge 12 win of the season for a group that reached the Sweet 16 a year ago.The Red Raiders eliminated a 23-point deficit after halftime to end an eight-game conference skid, with De’Vion Harmon scoring all 16 of his points after the break in an 80-77 overtime success versus No. 13 Iowa State on Monday night.
“I’m still in shock here,” Adams stated. “I was just so happy with our guys. They didn’t quit on themselves. I was proud of the fans. I was afraid they were going to leave at halftime.”
The Cyclones took a 59-36 lead with 12:38 staying in regulation. At that point, they had a 99.6% win likelihood. Nevertheless, Texas Tech tied the biggest resurgence by any team in Department I males’s basketball this season, along with tying the largest return to beat an AP-ranked team over the previous decade and setting a record for the biggest second-half deficit conquered to win a game in the history of the Huge 12/Big 8.
One of Caleb Grill’s career-best 8 3-pointers gave Iowa State that 59-36 lead, however the Red Raiders started a 20-3 run not long after to make it shut down the stretch.Kevin Obanor had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Raiders (12-10, 1-8 Huge 12), who won their 2nd successive game, consisting of a victory over LSU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.Grill scored 24 points but missed his last three 3-pointers after beginning 8-of-9. One miss was an off-balance air ball on a frantic game-ending series in which the Cyclones(15-6, 6-3 )missed three from long range trying to force a second overtime.”They just decided they were going to crank up the pressure, truly followed us and try to spread us out,”said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team was coming off a double-digit loss to Missouri in the SEC/Big 12 Difficulty that followed a win over fifth-ranked Kansas State. “We left sorts.” Iowa State’s only field goal in the final 10 minutes of regulation was the 3-pointer that gave Grill his profession high
of eight. The Cyclones were 3-of-16 in the last 10 minutes of policy and OT. “This isn’t a time to determine who’s fault it was and doom and gloom,”Otzelberger said.” We’ve had some actually terrific minutes.
We’re going to continue to have some fantastic minutes.” Iowa State still led by five with 40 seconds staying in regulation when Obanor hit a 3-pointer and the Red Raiders forced among 13 second-half
turnovers from the Cyclones on the inbound play.Harmon, who had 11 points in the 2nd half and 5 in OT, was fouled on a drive and made both totally free throws for the very first tie of the game at 71-all with 21 seconds staying after Iowa State had actually led from the opening bucket.Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur had 19 points however went 0-of-6 from 3, with among the misses losing at the buzzer in regulation.The Red Raiders took their first lead early in overtime on a layup by D’Maurian Williams, and their most significant lead was the final margin.Harmon put them ahead for good with one of 2 totally free tosses with 42 seconds remaining in overtime, and Obanor hit 2 more after another of Grill’s late misses on an off-balance 3. Grill had the very first long shot in the final seconds, and Jaren Holmes got the rebound but also was short from beyond the arc. Holmes ended up with the ball one more time however was short once again as the buzzer sounded.Texas Tech’s most significant previous resurgence was from 17
down in a 99-94 overtime victory at Nevada on Dec. 27, 1997. “I believed our defense was far better [in the 2nd half], however the big thing was just we were the most aggressive team on both ends of the flooring the 2nd half,”Adams said. “That was the distinction.” The Cyclones, who beat Texas Tech by 34 points at home last month, led by 17 at halftime– their largest lead in a road conference game over the previous 10 seasons– and took their very first 20-point lead among Grill’s 3s in the opening seconds of the second half.The Red Raiders rallied without freshman point player Pop Isaacs, their leading scorer in conference play. He missed out on a second consecutive game with an ankle injury while 6-foot-11 senior center Fardaws Aimaq was out with a foot injury.The Associated Press added to this report.