Texas Tech freshman Pop Isaacs scored a career-high 24 points with five 3-pointers and senior Kevin Obanor added 20 more to help lead the Red Raiders in a 78-71 win over Nicholls on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders extended a 26-game home winning streak with the victory over the Colonels who have won the Southland Conference regular-season championship the past two seasons.
Tech (6-2) overcame a 35-28 halftime deficit with a 10-2 run that started with an Obanor 3-pointer to close out the game for the win over the Colonels (3-5). Down as many as 11 in the second half, Tech would get its first lead of the game with Obanor following his 3-pointer with a layup for a 70-69 lead with 1:51 to play followed by Lamar Washington hitting four straight free throws. Seemingly bleak with a 65-57 deficit, Isaacs would hit a 3-pointer with 5:17 on the clock to make it a five-point game and start what would turn into an 18-6 run by the Red Raiders in the final five minutes to secure the win.
“I think we came into the game flat, honestly,” Isaacs said. “They were playing harder than us most of the game. In the beginning, I felt we were playing hard. Through the middle of the game, I felt they were playing harder than us. It is that simple. In the last five minutes, we picked it back up, got us back in the game, and came out with a win.”
Tech has won 26 straight at home, including going 18-0 last season, 3-0 to end the 2020-21 season, and is currently 5-0 to begin this season.
Daniel Batcho finished the game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and two blocked shots, while Washington finished with a season-best 12 points after going 12-for-17 at the free-throw line. A freshman from Portland, Oregon, Washington also had a career-high five assists and added seven rebounds which matched his career-best. De’Vion Harmon also had five assists in the game whereas Tech had 16 assists on 21 made shots. Obanor has now scored in double figures in 96 games in his career and seven straight this season. He added seven rebounds in the win over Nicholls and now leads Tech with 14.0 points per game.
Jaylon Tyson, who had started the opening seven games of the season, missed the game with an ankle injury. He is listed day-to-day.
Isaacs had his career-high 24 points after going 5-for-6 on 3-pointers and 6-for-9 overall from the field. He was 7-for-8 at the free-throw line and would also add three assists to his performance. Isaac’s 24 points were the most by a freshman since Jahmi’us Ramsey scored 25 against Iowa State on February 22, 2020. Ramsey had seven games of 20 or more in his freshman season, including a season-high 27 against LIU. His five 3-pointers are the most since Obanor hit five last season against Texas and surpassed his previous high of four 3-pointers against Creighton in Maui.
“We had to stay at it,” said Isaacs, who is now averaging 10.3 points per game and leads Tech with 17 3-pointers this season. “I felt like we were getting good looks most of the game. I do not think the offense was really the problem. I think we have to stay together overall. That is all it was. Keep chipping away and staying confident. We kept telling each other we were not going to lose the game. It was more of a mindset thing.”
Tech would survive a game where it had 18 turnovers and was only 29-for-46 at the free-throw line (63.0 percent). The team was outscored in the paint for the first time this season with Nicholls having a 30-26 advantage.
“We have to give Nicholls a lot of credit,” said Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams who improved to 23-0 at home leading the program. “I mean that. They have a lot of good players. They’re well-coached. They play hard and are very athletic. You know, they’re 12th in the country in steals, and that’s been kind of our “Achilles’ Heel” is just taking care of the ball. That was something we didn’t handle very well, but what we did handle was at the end of the game we were able to meet all this adversity and have missed all these free throws, and I don’t think you could have scripted it much better and we were still able to find a way to win. I’m proud of the guys for that and show a lot of character and trust in each other down the stretch.”
The Red Raiders return next Tuesday against Eastern Washington at the USA before traveling to Houston where they’ll play Jackson State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 17 at the Delmar Fieldhouse.
