Just days after getting swept by Kansas, Texas men's basketball made a big push back into the postseason on Tuesday, riding into enemy territory in Lubbock and defeating Texas Tech 81-69. Behind aggressive contributions from top to bottom of the rotation, a win-hungry Texas team sucked the air out of the Red Raiders' arena, taking an early lead and never allowing Texas Tech to make a real push. did not.
The Longhorns dominated the Red Raiders in the first half, holding the home team to 24.3 percent shooting. Despite some lackluster shooting from Texas, Texas Tech cut the lead to five points, but the Longhorns took control with a 20-3 run, making nine of their final 10 shots in the first half. After that, they had a 47-23 lead.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were similar for Texas, as the Longhorns increased their lead to 29 points and the game appeared to be on ice.
But with just over 10 minutes left in the game, emotions ran high when graduate forward Brock Cunningham collided with Texas Tech's Darrion Williams and was ejected for two flagrant fouls. The sequence of events resulted in an aggressive Red Raider crowd throwing water bottles onto the court, play was stopped for several minutes, and two technical fouls were called before Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland called out to the crowd. I begged it to be cancelled.
Riding the momentum, Texas Tech went on a 16-6 run to cut the deficit to 15 points with just over five minutes remaining. The Red Raider defense briefly stifled the Texas offense, but a key play from sophomore guard Chendal Weaver helped stem the tide. The University of Texas-Arlington transfer ended a six-minute Texas field goal drought with a floater, made a huge block in transition and made two free throws in one of his most impactful performances to date. He helped the Longhorns weather the storm.
Texas benefited from the absence of Texas Tech center Warren Washington, with the Longhorns dominating the Red Raiders in the paint all night and outrebounding them 44-30. Freshman forward Kadin Shedrick finally rolled the dice in the transfer portal on what looked like untapped talent to head coach Rodney Terry and his staff, shocking Texas Tech on both ends of the floor with his size and physicality. It was one of the best games of the season.
The much-improved play of graduate student guard Max Abmas was another catalyst for Texas' effort. Abmas, who had averaged less than seven points in his past three games, broke out of a slump and finished with 18 points and four threes.
Texas remains a shaky team, but with the win they take a big step toward clinching a ticket to both March Madness and the final Big 12 Tournament appearance. The Longhorns will look for their second straight win of the season in conference play when they play Oklahoma State at home on Saturday.
