Men’s basketball goes cold in Lubbock, loses to Texas Tech again, 68-59
LUBBOCK, Texas — Just five days after what could have been a résumé-building victory over Kansas, the Texas men’s basketball team shot just 34.7 percent from the floor, including just 20.0 percent in the second half, as the Longhorns fell to Texas Tech for the second time this season, 68-59 at United Supermarkets Arena.
The loss dropped the No. 14-16 Longhorns to 14-7 overall, and 8-6 among Big 12 teams, while the No. 18/17 Red Raiders improved to 15-8 overall, and 7-7 against conference opponents. Texas Tech completed the season sweep of Texas, which is now 4-6 against ranked teams this season.
Four Longhorns average 10 or more points per game, but only one of that quartet, guard Matt Coleman, reached double figures Saturday, with 10. Forward Jericho Sims led the Texas offense with 11 points. Sims hit four of his five field goals, making him the only Longhorn to convert more than 50 percent of his attempts (Coleman and forward Kai Jones each shot 3-of-6, while guard Jase Fabrese went 1.for-2). The other three Texas starters, guards Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey and forward Greg Brown, shot a combined 20 percent (hitting five of 25 shots).
On the other end of the floor, five Tech players scored in double figures, led by guard Mac McClung, the transfer from Georgetown, who scored a game-high 16 points.
UT led, 24-17 with just over six minutes remaining in the first half, but the Red Raiders answered with a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to grab a 31-28 advantage following a Micah Peavy jumper at the 1:08 mark. Coleman scored five points late in the first half to send the teams to the locker rooms tied, 33-33.
The Texas offense was relatively effective in the first half, as the Longhorns hit 50 percent of their shots before the intermission, before cooling off considerably in the second.
The UT offense went ice-cold at halftime; the Horns missed their first 11 field goal attempts of the second half, which helped fuel a 19-6 Tech run at the beginning of the second half, as the Red Raiders assumed a 52-39 lead.
Texas has three games, all on the road, remaining in the regular season. The first is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Iowa State, in a game was scheduled originally for Jan. 20 but was postponed. Tuesday’s game can be seen on BIG 12 NOW/ESPN+.
