Down 15 in the first half against the reigning national champion and only remaining unbeaten team in the country, No. 19 Texas Tech fought back to knock off No. 1 Baylor with a 65-62 win on Tuesday at the Ferrell Center.
The Red Raiders (12-3, 2-1 Big 12) earned their second win over a top-ranked team in program history, beat top-10 teams in back-to-back games for the third time and snapped a five-game losing streak in Waco. The loss ended a 21-game winning streak for Baylor (15-1, 3-1 Big 12) which won the 2021 National Championship and was the only unbeaten team in the nation remaining. The Bears started the game on a 9-0 run and led by 15 midway through the opening half before Tech rallied to be back in the game at 31-26 going into halftime.
"We showed a lot of determination, grit and character," Texas Tech coach Mark Adams said. "I'm very proud of them and blessed to be their coach. We could have just quit in about that first 10 minutes. But the guys just hung around and kind of got back in it at halftime, and then were able to gain some momentum as the game went on."
Adonis Arms led Tech with 14 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and five assists in the game, while Kevin Obanor and Bryson Williams both scored 13 points. Kevin McCullar returned to the lineup after missing the first two Big 12 games and contributed 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. Clarence Nadolny added 11 points for his second straight game in double figures after scoring a career-high 17 in the win over No. 6 Kansas. McCullar's 12 points included seven in the second half with two 3-pointers, the second giving Tech its largest lead of the game at 59-52 with 2:39 on the clock. The Bears would fight back though, pulling to within two before an electric dunk by Arms and a jumper by Williams with 46 seconds remaining gave Tech a 63-57 lead.
Davion Warren had not scored all night but would knock down two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to take a one-point lead to the 65-62 final score. Down the entire first half, Tech tied the game for the first time at 33-33 two minutes into the second half with a Williams and-one and led for the first time at 47-46 with Nadolny hitting a free throw with 10 minutes to play. Williams hit a 3-pointer to give Tech a 54-52 lead with five minutes to play and the lead grew to seven with Arms getting a putback before McCullar's 3-pointer.
Obanor shot 6-for-11 from the field with a 3-pointer and also added four rebounds, while Williams hit five shots and had five rebounds. Arms scored his team-high 14 points by going 7 of 13 from the field and also led Tech with three offensive rebounds. He was just one rebound shy of his first double-double of the season.
"We prepared well and again got emotionally ready," Adams said. "I told these guys, there's 350 Division I schools or more out there and they'd all love to be playing the No. 1 team. It was a great opportunity for us and thank goodness we took advantage of it."
The Red Raiders finished the game with 16 assists on a night where they hit 28 shots and owned a 36-22 scoring advantage in the paint. Tech shot 50.9 percent from the field despite going just 4-for-14 on 3-pointers. Baylor finished the game shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 8-for-24 on 3-pointers. Adam Flagler and James Akinjo led BU with 17 points each, while LJ Cryer had 10 points.
Tech trailed by as many as 15 in the first half but would close out the half on a 10-0 run to make it 31-26 going into the break. Williams led the Red Raiders with seven points and had three rebounds at halftime, while Nadolny and Arms had six points each. Arms also led the team with five rounds and four assists and McCullar had five points and three assists. Tech had nine assists on 12 shots in the opening half and was shooting 48.0 percent form the field and 1 of 6 on 3-pointers. Baylor led throughout the half by starting the game on a 9-0 run and finished the first half shooting 12-for-28 overall and was 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Flagler led BU with 12 points after going 4 of 6 on 3-pointers while Tchamwa Tchatchoua had eight rebounds. Baylor had a 17-13 rebounding advantage going into the second half.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Tech is now 2-7 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents in program history. The Red Raiders earned a 70-57 win over then-No. 1 Louisville at the 2019 Jimmy V Classic in New York. Tech is now 1-6 against top-ranked teams from the Big 12… Tech also secured back-to-back top-10 wins back in 2002 with wins over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State who were both at No. 6 and then again in 2007 with wins over No. 5 Kansas and No. 6 Texas A&M in... The Red Raiders improved to 81-62 all-time over the Bears and ended a four-game losing streak… Tech is now 30-38 all-time in Waco, snapping the five-game losing streak at the Ferrell Center and earning its first road win of the season.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech returns to action against Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the United Supermarkets Arena before playing at Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas to complete a three-game week. The Red Raiders and Cowboys were originally scheduled to play on New Year's Day before having it rescheduled to Thursday due to health and safety protocols within the OSU program.
