De'Vion Harmon and Kevin Obanor scored 15 points each to help lead No. 23 Texas Tech to a 64-55 win over Louisiana Tech on Monday to extend a 24-game home winning streak at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (3-0) jumped out to an 8-0 lead, were up 32-27 at halftime and pulled away midway through the second half with an 11-1 run that was capped by a Harmon dunk to close out a three-game homestand to begin the season. Texas Tech has now won 24 straight home games, 18 straight non-conference home games and is now 21-0 at home under head coach Mark Adams.
"I thought defensively we were really good early and kind of set the pace," Adams said. "I thought we were ready to play. Now they get a lot of credit they got back in the game, but we had just so many turnovers and got sloppy with the ball instead of just taking care of our business. We've got so many young kids on the team and it's a lot of growing pains and we're going to have to get through this. Again, I'm praying for patience and I have to remember that because we did get the win the guys played hard."
Daniel Batcho had a career-high six blocked shots in the win to go along with nine points and seven rebounds. Obanor would add eight points to his season-high 15 points to fall just two rebounds short of his 36th career double-double, while Harmon would match his career-high with six assists. A steal and layup by Harmon gave Texas Tech a 7-0 run and 46-37 lead before his next points put the Red Raiders up 50-38 lead.
Pop Isaacs scored a career-high 10 points in the win by going 2-for-3 on 3-pointers for the Red Raiders who were 7-for-18 from beyond the arc. Isaacs was the only Texas Tech player with two 3-pointers, while Obanor, Jaylon Tyson, Kerwin Walton and Elijah Fisher had one each. Tyson finished the game with seven points, three rebounds and two steals while Walton led the reserves with five points. Texas Tech had seven players score in the game, down from 11 in the first two games.
"I feel like we're still learning a lot, but I feel how together we are," Isaacs said. "When adversity hit, nobody panicked. We all stayed calm. We all said we're good, keep going, get back to being ourselves, and hang our hat on the defensive end. I think we're really good defensively. We're really good in our rotations. I just feel so far we've learned that we're really together and everybody's having fun out there."
The Red Raiders limited the Bulldogs to 37.7 percent shooting for the game, including 6-for-24 on 3-pointers. Texas Tech owned a slim 26-24 scoring advantage in the paint and also a 35-26 rebounding advantage. Obanor is now averaging 12.3 points per game to lead the team this season, while Harmon is at 11.3 points per game and 4.3 assists per game.
Obanor led the Red Raiders with 10 points and seven rebounds at the half after hitting a runner in the lane with three seconds on the clock for a 32-27 lead. Texas Tech led by as many as 14 points in the opening half before LA Tech had a 10-0 run to pull to within three. Tyson finished the first half with seven points, while Harmon had four points and a team-best three assists going into the break. LA Tech was led by Keaston Willis who had nine points and Kenny Hunter who came off the bench to score eight. The Red Raiders have led at halftime off all three games this season.
Texas Tech returns to action next week at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Red Raiders open the three-day, three-game tournament against No. 10 Creighton at 1:30 p.m. (CST) on Monday with the game being televised on ESPN2.