Devaugntah Williams scored 15 points to help Texas Tech hold off Mississippi State 74-72 in Friday’s consolation bracket at the Puerto Rico Tipoff.
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The Red Raiders (3-1) had five players secure double figures and came away with back-to-back victories against fellow power five conference opponents in nonconference play since the 2009-10 season when Tech defeated then No. 12 Washington (Dec. 3) and Stanford (Dec. 22).
Smith said Sunday his staff was “pretty fired up” by the reunion. Jekiri, Davon Reed and Rodriguez all went two-for-two from the line, pushing the lead back to nine. The Utes made 26 of 34 free throws….
Carlos Morris added 12 points for the Gophers (3-1), who got off to a fast start to build a double-digit lead that reached 18 points early in the second half.
King had zero three-pointers by halftime Sunday and one in the game.
Once again, Aaron Ross delivered a solid all-around effort of the bench. Even with all the “momentum shifting” towards the Bulldogs, it was Miami’s point guard duo and a double-double performance from Tonye Jekiri that kept the lead in double-digits for most of the half. He paced Butler with five assists.
Norense Odiase worked his way to a career-high tying 10 rebounds coupled with four points.
But he went 20 minutes without taking another shot from beyond the arc. Butler, on the other hand, allows 66.3 points per game (ranked 106th). Minnesota was an efficient 16-of-18 at the charity stripe.
They fell just shy of the Tipoff’s single-game scoring record of 107 points, set by North Carolina against Hofstra in 2010.
NO. 13 MI ST. 92, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 46: Sophomore Javon Bess scored a career-high 16 points and MI State beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Bulldogs came out hot in the second half and with just under 8 minutes to play the game was tied.
G Lorenzo Bonam, 6-4, Jr., 11.0 ppg., 4.3 rpg. Following a Manderson layup and six free throws, Gotcher drove in for a contested left-handed layup.
Quenton DeCosey scored 24 points for the Owls, who opened on a 12-2 run. “I thought we let them loose for a few critical offensive rebounds in the first half that sort of got them where they needed to be”. The future looks bright for this Red Raider squad. Compare that to Butler’s horrendous day of shooting and only three steals and it’s not hard to see that the ‘Dawgs must step up their game. The Bulldogs sank 10 of their 14 foul shots. Butler scored 16 points off turnovers….
The Red Raiders would take a 41-32 advantage into the locker room.
Texas Tech: Keenan Evans had 12 points….
“We wanted to do it for them, ” Williams said. “At halftime, our biggest thing was the score was 0-0”. Like against Mississippi State, we were up at half.
The last place Michael Geiger, all 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds of him, wanted to end up was at the bottom of a pile of MI State football players.
“I’m grateful that we’re where we are, but we need to finish games out better than we have been”.
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Texas Tech begins an eight-game homestand Saturday against Hawaii at United Supermarkets Arena. Tipoff is on-tap for 3 p.m. CT televised by FOX Sports Southwest Plus and the FOX Sports Go app.
