Texas Tech fell to 0-6 to start Big 12 play with an 81-74 loss to No. 21 Baylor on Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (10-8, 0-6 Big 12) will now play at No. 13 Kansas State at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. BU evened its conference record at 3-3 with its third straight win.
“When you go through these losses it wears on you,” Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. “What’s important is that our guys keep their heads up and stay positive. No different than you would in life. There are certain times when you have a bad day, bad week, bad month, and more, and you know, you learn from adversity. We challenge these guys to just not give up on themselves or each other and just keep fighting. We’re going to do that. We only had nine turnovers against a very good defensive team.”
Jaylon Tyson recorded his second straight double-double with a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Pop Isaacs scored 14 points and Fardaws Aimaq and Kerwin Walton both added 12 points. Aimaq, playing in his first home game after making his season debut last Saturday against Texas, was 5-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 at the free-throw line. He finished with nine rebounds, one shy of the 42nd double-double of his career.
The Red Raiders have now lost three straight home games after coming into conference play on a 29-game home winning streak and having gone 9-0 in Big 12 play in Lubbock last season. The loss against Baylor came despite only nine turnovers with the Bears had only three in a game where both teams finished with 31 rebounds.
Tech finished the game 12-for-31 on 3-pointers with Walton making four and Isaacs and Tyson hitting three each. Kevin Obanor contributed 10 points and four rebounds while De’Vion Harmon led the team with six assists and scored four. Daniel Batcho played as a reserve, finishing the game with three rebounds, one block, three points, and two assists. Obanor now has exactly 1,000 rebounds in his career through 141 games. He has 316 rebounds through 55 games at Texas Tech after playing three seasons at Oral Roberts. He is currently leading Tech with 15.1 points per game and is at 6.2 rebounds per game this season.
Baylor led 48-40 at halftime and was up by 16 midway through the second half before the Red Raiders fought back to within five with a minute to play. Isaacs had made it a 77-71 game with a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining and had it at 79-74 with a free throw with 55 seconds left. BU would take the win though, finishing the game 11-for-29 on 3-pointers and 14-for-18 at the free-throw line. Tech was 8-for-15 at the line.
“The guys have a lot of heart and they want to win,” Adams said. “They’re very competitive. And again, I want to thank our great fans. I mean they helped us get back in the game and I can’t say enough about how it’s so nice to have our student section back. Our hope is that they won’t give up on us. Keep encouraging us and showing up to the games, and being loud and rowdy, and showing their support.”
BU freshman Keyonte George led all scorers with 27 points after going 5-for-11 on 3-pointers, while LJ Cryer had 18 points after going 4-for-4 on 3s. Jalen Bridges added 14 points and five rebounds and Adam Flagler had nine points and led the team with five assists.
Tech trailed 48-40 at halftime despite hitting seven 3-pointers and shooting 57.7 percent from the field. Tyson was leading the team with 12 points and three rebounds, while Obanor, Aimaq, and Isaacs had seven points each from the starting lineup and Walton had six points to lead the reserves. BU was shooting 51.4 percent from the field and had hit seven 3-pointers, led by Cryer who was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and had 14 points. Bridges also had 14 first-half points while George had nine points.
Texas Tech will now play a Kansas State team which is coming off an 83-82 overtime win over No. 2 Kansas on Tuesday in Manhattan. KSU is 16-2 on the season, 5-1 in Big 12 play, and 10-0 at home going into the weekend matchup against the Red Raiders who are 0-6 against ranked opponents this season.
