Texas Tech basketball uses dominant second half to beat Northern Kentucky

Thanks to a strong second half, the Texas Tech basketball team was able to beat Northern Kentucky 72-57 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

In a matchup featuring two players of the year from their respective conferences, Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver turned in a performance to remember while Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald had a game he would love to forget.  The Red Raiders’ leading scorer and Big 12 Player of the year had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Texas Tech basketball team to a 72-57 win Friday in Tulsa.

Meanwhile the Horizon League Player of the Year, McDonald, was a non-factor as he went just 2-13 from the field en route to a season-low five points.  NKU’s all-time leading scorer, who entered the game averaging 19.1 points per game, had reached double-digits in 33 of his team’s 34 games prior to Friday but was flustered all day by a relentless Texas Tech defense that forced him into an 0-6 performance from 3-point range.

After a sluggish start in the first half, the Red Raiders came alive and outscored the Norse 42-31 after the break thanks to a terrific defensive effort.  Led by Tariq Owens’ five blocks, Tech’s defense lived up to its billing as one of the best in the NCAA Tournament holding NKU to just 37.1% shooting from the field and 5-22 from 3-point range while also forcing 17 turnovers.

And that was enough to allow the Red Raider offense to finally find its rhythm.  Up only 30-26 at the break thanks to a 1-8 shooting performance from the free throw line and a combined 2-8 shooting effort from second and third-leading scorers Davide Moretti and Matt Money, Tech made 14 of 26 shots in the second half (with nine buckets coming in the paint) to build as much as a 20-point lead.

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Owens also provided a spark offensively with 12 points on 6-7 shooting.  Meanwhile, Davide Moretti scored 10 points and Mooney finished with nine as the Red Raider offense that we saw during the nine-game winning streak to close the regular season showed up in the final twenty minutes.

The defining stretch of the game began with an Owens dunk at the 17:49 mark to kick off a 13-3 Texas Tech run over the next three-and-a-half-minutes.  During that span, Tech hit five-straight shots including 3-pointers from Mooney and Culver, the latter of which also added three points the old-fashioned way at the start of the run.  Meanwhile, NKU went just 1-4 and committed 3 turnovers as Tech built a 47-34 lead.

The Norse entered the game averaging 80 points per contest on the strength of 36.6% shooting as a team from 3-point range.  But against the Red Raiders, only two NKU players managed to hit a shot from behind the arc.

Tyler Sharpe nailed 4-7 from deep on his way to a team-high 23 points but he was the only member of the Norse to hit more than one 3.  The rest of his team managed to make just 1-15 shots from deep.  That one make came from guard Dantez Walton, who, with 10 points was the only other NKU player that managed to get to double-digits.

With the win, Texas Tech moves on to Sunday’s second-round in Tulsa where they will play either Buffalo or Arizona State at a time yet to be determined.  Hopefully, Chris Beard’s team will play the entire game Sunday like they did the final twenty minutes against NKU.