Pop Isaacs scored a career-high 32 points with six 3-pointers and No. 25 Texas Tech stormed back from a 16-point halftime deficit to earn an 85-78 win over No. 20 BYU on Saturday at a sold-out United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders (15-3, 4-1 Big 12) improved to 11-0 at home after fighting back from a 10-0 run by BYU to start the game and being down 48-32 at halftime. Tech has now won 10 of its last 11 games and have matched the 2018-19 Final Four team with a 15-3 record through 18 games. BYU (14-4, 2-3 Big 12) was 10-for-20 on 3-pointers at halftime, but finished the game 13-for-39 – shooting just 3-for-19 in the second half. Tech improved to 2-1 against ranked opponents and responded from a road loss on Wednesday night at No. 5 Houston to also improve to 3-0 following a loss.
"I thought the energy in the building really willed us," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "One moment that will stand out to me, is walking off the court at halftime and there might have been reason to boo with the way we played in the first half. But people were cheering for us. All I could think was this is a phenomenal place to play basketball. When you're not playing your best, but people are cheering for you. Our guys didn't panic. I thought Pop wasn't going to let us lose. I thought we improved over the course of the game to hold them to 15 percent from 3 in the second half. Our competitiveness and ability to get some easy baskets to get back into the game was big. It's a blessing to be a part of this atmosphere and coaching this team. That's the fight they show every day."
Tech was 13-for-14 at the free-throw line in the second half and had a 22-4 scoring advantage off turnovers in a game where Tech only had six turnovers and forced 12 from the visitors. Isaacs scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc after halftime and leading Tech to a 53-30 scoring advantage over the final 20 minutes of play.
"I just know it was a must win game for us," Isaacs said. "I mean, you're playing in the Big 12, a super hard conference ,like this where every game is tough. I just didn't want to let us lose this game. That was my biggest thing. Anything it was going to take to win. That's what I was just trying to do it. You know, it was a great atmosphere and I usually just have fun playing in these atmospheres."
Warren Washington scored a season-high 19 points and finished with nine rebounds, while Chance McMillian had 14 points to lead the reserves. Joe Toussaint led the team with five assists and Darrion Williams added eight rebounds, seven points, and three assists. Tech, which trailed by 11 at halftime and won 60-59 last Saturday against Kansas State, finished off the win over BYU by going 17-for-18 at the free-throw line and also making 10-of-20 3-pointers in the game. Kerwin Walton had two of those 3-pointers, finishing with six points.
"Just a resilient group that gets challenged every day and they accept the challenge," McCasland said. "It's not fun to get challenged every day. You don't want people telling you 'This isn't good enough'. It's not fun, but these guys embrace that. And honestly, it's brought them closer together. When you get in our practices and you see them and you're around our guys, they're really accepting of it being difficult and they want it to be difficult. Just to challenge them in that regard. And these guys love it. They do believe in that and it's fun to watch them feel like we're still going to win no matter what the odds are against us. Whatever you want to call it, physicality, three-pointers get rained on your head. I mean, just who wants to fight and play? I told them at halftime this is fun. If you don't like doing this, then you should go sit in the stands. Like this is fun. So, we didn't play great defensively. Let's go figure out a way to win this game and that's what these guys do."
Tech's comeback was the largest it has this season and the biggest since overcoming a 17-point halftime deficit against Iowa State last season. Isaacs, who finished the game shooting 11-for-19 from the field and 6-for-9 on 3-pointers, is the first Red Raider to score over 30 since Bryson Williams had 33 at Kansas in the 2022 Big 12 season. Isaacs had a previous career-high of 28 points in the non-conference win over Sam Houston this season and now has scored in double-figures in a career-best nine straight games. He leads Tech with 16.9 points per game this season after the eighth game he's been the leading scorer.
Tech scored nine points more than its season average and held BYU to eight points below their conference leading 85.7 points per game.
BYU finished the game shooting 31-for-70 (44 percent) and were just 3-for-5 from the free-throw line. Aly Khalifa led the Cougars with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Richie Saunders had 16 points with two 3-pointers and Dallin Hall had 12 points after going 4-for-8 on 3-pointers. BYU finished the game with 15 assists on its 31 makes.
BYU took a 48-32 lead into halftime after going 10-for-20 on 3-pointers while the Red Raiders were just 12-for-34 from the field and 4-for-11 on 3-pointers. Washington led Tech with 11 points and three rebounds at the break, while Isaacs had nine points and McMillian had six points and three rebounds off the bench. Tech trailed by as many as 17 in the first half but had cut it to nine with Isaacs hitting a 3-pointer and Washington throwing down a fastbreak dunk to make it a 39-30 game with 2:38 until the break. The Red Raiders started in a 10-0 hole before Williams made a 3-pointer to stop an 0-for-8 shooting performance to start the game. Walton first 3-pointer trimmed BYU's lead to 22-11 game midway through the first half before McMillian buried a 3-pointer to make it 30-18. Isaacs scored his first points of the game with a runner with 6:24 on the clock, before hitting two free throws on the next possession to trim BYU's lead to 35-22. The Cougars finished the half on a 9-2 run. The previous largest halftime deficit was 11 last Saturday against Kansas State.
Isaacs hit the first basket of the second half, making a 3-pointer on Tech's first possession to make it 48-35 before the next trip down with Washington making a runner in the lane. The 16-point halftime deficit was quickly in single-digits at 48-39 with Isaacs making a fastbreak layup after getting the defensive rebound off a BYU missed 3-pointer. The Red Raiders got back into the game with a 9-0 run to start the second half and an extended 12-3 run with an Isaacs 3-pointer to make it 51-44. Another run, this time 7-0, cut the 16-point halftime BYU lead to 55-53 with a second-chance basket from McMillian with 13 minutes remaining.
The Red Raiders tied the game at 62-62 on an Isaacs steal and McMillian fastbreak layup and led for the first time in the game at 64-62 following a Warren Washington hook shot with seven minutes remaining. The lead grew to 69-66 after Isaacs hit another 3-pointer and a Washington dunk off an Isaacs assist. Isaacs made his sixth 3-pointer to push Tech's lead to 75-70 before another basket gave the team a 77-70 lead and pushed him over 30 points for the first time in his career.
Tech and BYU were playing for the first time as Big 12 opponents and the five time overall. The Cougars lead the series 3-2, but Tech has won the past two after also taking an 81-71 win back in 1995 in the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. This was the only regular-season matchup between the two teams this season.
Texas Tech will not play a game during the week before returning to action at No. 15 Oklahoma for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, January 27 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) host Texas on Tuesday night before the Red Raiders make their way across the Red River for the weekend showdown. OU is currently 11-0 at home this season and earned a 69-65 road win at Cincinnati on Saturday leading into its two-game homestand next week.
