RECAP: No. 11 Tech knocks off No. 20 Texas in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas – Bryson Williams went for 17 points and six rebounds while Clarence Nadolny scored 14 to help lead No. 11 Texas Tech to a 61-55 win over No. 20 Texas on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center.

The Red Raiders (21-6, 10-4 Big 12) swept the regular-season series over the Longhorns (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) for the second straight year, have now won four in a row in Austin and are 9-2 in the last 11 meetings between the programs after limiting UT to only 28.3 percent shooting. Tech and UT went to halftime tied at 28 with the Red Raiders scoring the final five points of the first half before Williams came out of the break to score four straight and Adonis Arms hit a 3-pointer for a 13-0 run and 35-28 lead.

“This game felt like a tug-of-war,” Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. “They were fighting for everything and we were doing the same. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Chris) Beard and his staff. I’ve learned so much from them. I don’t like playing my friends. Our teams are very similar. We both guard and are very physical and tough. We were just fortunate enough that the clock ran out and we had a win.”

Tech is now 2-0 against the Longhorns this season after also earning a 77-64 win on Feb. 1 in Lubbock and 7-3 against ranked opponents this season following an 83-73 win over No. 7 Baylor on Wednesday. Williams now has 100 games in his career scoring in double figures and 1,996 points in his career. Tech played the game at UT without Kevin McCullar who had led the Red Raiders with 19 points in the first matchup against the Longhorns due to an ankle injury. 

The game remained close, including when Tech built a 56-46 lead with 3:38 to play with the Longhorns responding quickly with Andrew Jones hitting a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with 1:36 to play. Kevin Obanor and Nadolny would both hit a pair of free throws to close out the game and earn the sweep.

“I feel what turned us around is our intensity on defense,” Williams said. “They were getting a lot of three-point shots and making those. That was keeping them in the game with us. We knew we had to lock in and be aware of their shooters.”

Tech finished the game with three players in double figures with Arms scoring 10 points to join Williams and Nadolny. Williams led the team with 17 points and is now only four points from reaching 2,000 in his career. He was 6-for-13 from the field and 5-for-6 at the free-throw line to lead Tech, while Nadolny was two points from his career high after going for 14 points in 20 minutes as a reserve. He had 16 against Kansas earlier this season.

Marcus Santos-Silva led the Red Raiders with eight rebounds and also had six points in the win, while Arms added seven rebounds to his 10 points. Terrence Shannon, Jr. added six points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists in the win. Arms led Tech with four offensive rebounds, while Santos-Silva had three and Williams and Shannon two each in a game where the Red Raiders finished with 17 offensive rebounds.

Williams scored 11 of his 17 in the second half, while Nadolny had eight in the final 20 minutes. Williams also had five rebounds in the second half where Tech outscored the Longhorns by a 33-27 margin and held UT to 8-for-30 shooting. 

Tech finished the game with 45-36 rebounding advantage and with a 26-10 scoring advantage in the paint in the physical battle. TTU was only 3-for-14 on 3-pointers int eh game but went 20-for-29 at the free-throw line and scored 15 second-chance points.

“Our teams are very physical, they play tough and it was a war out there,” Adams said. “This game was possession by possession.”

Andrew Jones led the Longhorns with 20 points by going 4-for-10 on 3-pointers, while Courtney Ramey had nine points and Timmy Allen scored six. Christian Bishop had a game-high 11 rebounds but was limited to three points.

Arms had seven points while Williams and Nadolny had six each at halftime with the game tied at 28. The Red Raiders were 9-for-26 from the field and 1-for-5 on 3-pointers at the break, while Texas was shooting 9-for-30 from the field and 3-for-11 from beyond the arc. Obanor hit Tech’s only first-half 3-pointers in a half where the Red Raiders were 9-for-14 at the line and UT was 7-for-7. Jones led Texas with 13 points, while Ramey had nine. Both teams had nine turnovers going into the break.

WITH THE WIN

• Tech has now won four in a row in Austin over the Longhorns (record is 8 in row in Austin from 1969-76)
• Tech is now 10-2 against Texas in the last 12 meetings
• Tech has now swept Baylor, Texas and West Virginia in Big 12 play this season
• Tech has now swept the regular-season series over Texas four times
• It is the first time Tech has swept the regular-season series in back-to-back years
• Texas leads the all-time series by an 88-65 margin
• Tech is now 25-49 all-time in Austin against the Longhorns
• Tech is 3-4 on the road in Big 12 games
• Tech is on its second three-game Big 12 winning streak this season

UP NEXT
Texas Tech returns to action against Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Sooner earned a 70-55 win in the first matchup on Feb. 9 in Norman and looks to be the only team to sweep Tech this season. The Red Raiders come into the game with a 16-0 record on their home court after their 83-73 win over No. 7 Baylor last Wednesday.
 
KEY MOMENTS
Second Half

• Williams made the first two baskets of the second half to give Tech a 32-28 lead and him 10 points
• Arms hit a 3-pointer to give Tech a 7-0 run to begin the half before Cunningham and Febres started UT scoring in the second half with two 3-pointer to make it 35-34
• Santos-Silva gave Tech a 39-35 lead with a jumper (12:13) followed by Warren hitting his first shot of the game for a 41-35 lead (11:45)… Tech had 4 of 5 field goals going into the under-12 media timeout to that the six-point lead
• Williams threw down a dunk for a 45-38 lead before a Jones 3-pinter to cut Tech’s lead back to four… Williams had 14 after the dunk and was 6-for-10 from the field
• Nadolny drilled a 3-pointer to give Tech a 50-44 lead (6:25) and him 11 points… He was 4-for-8 from the field and 1-for-3 on 3-pointers after the shot
• Williams hit a pair of free throws to give him 16 and the Red Raiders a 54-46 lead with 4:29 remaining… Tech was 13-for-18 at the line after his shots
• Nadolny gave Tech a 56-46 lead with two more free throws that pushed him to 13 points… It was the first double-digit lead of the game
• Obanor stopped a 9-0 run by the Longhorns with two free throws to give Tech a 58-55 lead with 1:10 to play… UT missed on the other end and Shannon secured the rebound

First Half

• Texas won the tip but didn’t score on its opening possession despite two offensive rebounds… Tech took a 2-0 lead with Arms hitting a runner on the team’s second possession for the first points of the game
• Williams stopped a 6-0 Texas run with a jumper that made it 6-4 before another Arms basket to tie the game at 6-6 going into the first media timeout
• Tech went on a 7-0 to take a 9-6 lead with Nadolny hitting a long-range jumper to give Tech an 8-6 before an Obanor free throw… Disu stopped the run for Texas with a jumper
• Williams went with a left-handed layup to give Tech a 15-13 lead with 10 minutes to play… He was 2-for-3 and had four points to start the game after the basket
• Tech had gone 0-for-4 on its last shots but Shannon hit a pair free throws to take a 17-15 lead with 7:42 on the clock… Jones answered on the other end for Texas through with a 3-pointer that made the Longhorns 3-for-6 from beyond the arc
• Santos-Silva made his first basket of the game with a layup (5:13) to cut UT’s lead to 20-19… Tech was 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from the field after his basket
• Obanor hit Tech’s first 3-pointer of the game to tie it at 22-all with 3:55… It was Obanor’s first shot of the game and made Tech 1-for-5 from beyond the arc to begin the game
• UT went on a 6-0 run to take a 28-22 lead before Williams got to the free throw line and hit a pair before Nadolny hit another layup to make it a two-point game
• Nadonly tied the game at 28-all with a pair of free throws after his layup to give Tech a 6-0 run to match the Longhorns… Nadolny had six points after the free throws

 

West Texas. Best Texas. pic.twitter.com/z0ij3GfXp7

— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 19, 2022

 
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