Texas Tech Battles for Win Over No. 12 Kansas State

Mark Adams and the Red Raiders prevailed in a huge win over No. 12 Kansas State in Lubbock on Saturday night. With the 71-63 victory, Texas Tech earned their second quad 1 win of the season and initiated a two-game home win streak that they will look to build upon when Texas travels to Lubbock on Monday.

De’Vion Harmon was the team’s leading scorer on Saturday with 20 points, three rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Lamar Washington had a career night with 13 points and five steals, being career highs for him in both of those stat categories.

Washington also came up big from beyond the arc, shooting 57% from three. The other two Red Raiders that scored in double digits were Jaylon Tyson, with 11, and Kevin Obanor, with 10. Additionally, Elijah Fisher earned his first career start against the Wildcats, and, despite only scoring two points on the night, Fisher was a massive presence on the defensive end and did a great job helping to facilitate the offense when he was on the floor. Fardaws Aimaq also returned to play on Saturday, and while he unfortunately wasn’t a big presence offensively, he did manage two assists, three steals, and a block in his 23 minutes of play. It was really promising to see every single player that touched the floor contribute to the offense in terms of scoring efforts.

Texas Tech’s defense was especially impressive last night as they held a historically high percentage shooting team to a mere 35% from the field. On the season, Kansas State averages 35% shooting from three, but they were held to just 23% (6-26) from beyond the arc on Saturday night. Despite losing the overall rebound battle, the Red Raider defense managed to force a total of 23 turnovers (14 steals), which ended up being a huge difference maker in the game. 

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of the game against Kansas State, however, was the fact that there appeared to be little to no let-up from the team in the second half, something that we had seen consistently happen in nearly every game prior to this one. The continuous fight demonstrated by these guys through all 40 minutes of play is something that could be the difference in winning the majority of the remaining games this season. I’m hopeful that the Red Raiders will carry this mentality and momentum into the game against Texas come Monday night.