Texas Tech basketball beats Arkansas 67-64 to snap losing streak

The Texas Tech basketball team beat Arkansas 67-64 Saturday night in Lubbock to put an end to its 3-game losing streak.

It wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t easy but the Texas Tech basketball team finally put an end to its 3-game losing streak Saturday night in Lubbock.  Surviving on grit and testicular fortitude, the Red Raiders held on for a 67-64 win over Arkansas helping the Big 12 secure a 6-4 win in the annual Big 12 / SEC Challenge.

Davide Moretti rebounded from a 2-point effort in Tuesday’s loss at Kansas State to score a career-high 21 points on 6-9 shooting leading three Red Raiders in double-digits.  Jarrett Culver had 15 points with 12 coming in the second half while Matt Mooney added 12 of his own.

But the Red Raiders had to survive the final 7:41 of the game without a field goal to hang on as the Razorbacks battled back from a second-half deficit that reached 12 points at one point.  Thankfully, Tech was able to knock down some timely free throws hitting 7-8 to offset their shooting woes down the stretch.

And fittingly for the Red Raiders, it was a defensive play that helped seal the game.  With the Hogs trailing 65-62 in the final minute, Jarrett Culver’s ball pressure forced Keyshawn Embery-Simpson to lose his handle on the ball.  In the ensuing scrum, Simpson kicked the ball giving possession to the Red Raiders with just six seconds remaining.

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On the following possession, Davide Moretti hit two free throws to put the game out of reach.  It was far from an ascetically pleasing exhibition of basketball but for a Texas Tech team that had not won since beating Texas in Austin two weeks ago, Saturday’s performance was beautiful.

The Red Raiders finally got back to their winning formula of stingy defense, steady offense from Culver and timely scoring from their secondary offensive options.  It was the way Tech had played on its way to a 15-1 start but in recent games, parts of that equation had been missing.

Against Iowa State, the Red Raiders could not come up with the big shots when needed in a 68-64 loss in Lubbock.  The next game against Baylor, the Red Raiders lacked the type of defensive effort that Chris Beard expects of his team allowing the Bears to become the first team to eclipse the 70-point barrier this year.  And Tuesday in Manhattan, they were smothered by a Kansas State defense that held Tech to 45 points, the lowest output of the Beard era.

Saturday, the Red Raiders were able to keep Arkansas’ stars in check.  Sophomore center Daniel Gafford was held to just 14 points (two below his season average) and five rebounds thank in large part to early foul trouble that sidelined him for most of the first half.

Meanwhile, sharp-shooting freshman Isaiah Joe, who is on pace to set an Arkansas freshman record for 3-point shooting percentage, went 0-5 from long range.  Already with three games this year of at least seven 3-pointers, Joe scored just five points (ten below his season average).

Overall, the Hogs went just 4-19 from deep hitting just half of their season average.  Meanwhile, Tech buried 10-19 from deep to shoot an uncharacteristically high 52.6%.

Tech returns to Big 12 play Monday at home against TCU.  If the Red Raiders are able to get back on a roll in league play, perhaps they will look back at Saturday’s hard-fought win over their former Southwest Conference rival as the moment when they rediscovered how to play Red Raider basketball.