Monday's basketball: Texas Tech upsets No. 4 Baylor
Lubbock, Texas — Keenan Evans and Texas Tech didn’t have to wait long for another chance against a top-five team at home.
This time, the Red Raiders came out on top with a late rally after blowing a big early lead.
Evans scored 23 points, Niem Stevenson had 21 and Texas Tech toppled fourth-ranked Baylor, 84-78, on Monday night, two days after a one-point loss at home to Big 12-leading and third-ranked Kansas.
“We’ve known the whole time that we can beat these teams,” Evans said. “Especially Kansas, we let that one slip away. But, we knew coming in it was going to be a battle. We knew that we could come out with a win.”
Texas Tech (17-9, 5-8 Big 12) rallied in the second half after squandering an early 12-point lead. The Red Raiders opened the game with an 11-0 run and used an identical spurt late in the game to go ahead to stay.
“People look at a number and they see (No. 4) and they see non-ranked and they think there’s a big difference,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Coaches know there’s not a big difference. These are one-possession games. A one-possession league.”
Justin Gray added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Zach Smith scored 11 for the Red Raiders, who before their 80-79 home loss to Kansas on Saturday had a one-point loss at TCU last Wednesday.
Terry Maston led Baylor (22-4, 9-4) with a career-high 22 points. Manu Lecomte, who fouled out after a technical in the second half, finished with 16.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Johnathan Motley had 11 points apiece for the Bears. Motley, who entered the game leading Baylor and ranked fourth in the Big 12 with an average of 16.9 points per game, didn’t score until after halftime.
“They doubled him really hard, so it opened up lanes for me and spacing was pretty good,” Maston said.
Devon Thomas converted a tying three-point play with 7:09 left, his only points of the game coming after he was originally whistled for charging while making a layup. Officials reviewed the play and the call was overturned after it was determined Jake Lindsey was in the restricted area when he drew contact, and he instead was given the foul.
Aaron Ross then hit a 3-pointer, and his layup with five minutes left put Texas Tech up 69-61.
Ross, a reserve forward, scored eight points after being held to two in each of Texas Tech’s previous two games.
“He cares. It was within 30 minutes of the Kansas game and he was back in the gym,” Red Raiders coach Chris Beard said. “I think he made 700 shots Saturday night after the game. That’s a little bit of a glimpse behind Aaron Ross and who he is.”
Ross hit both free throws after Lecomte was called for a technical, which immediately followed his fourth personal foul with 8:28 left. Maston then hit a jumper before the Red Raiders went on their decisive 11-0 run.
Lecomte scored 12 of the final 14 points for the Bears in the first half, when they recovered from a 14-2 deficit to go ahead 36-32 at the break.
More top 25 men
No. 2 Villanova 75, (at) DePaul 62: Jalen Brunson, a former Illinois prep star from nearby Lincolnshire, scored 18 points, shooting 4 for 8 from the field and 8 for 9 at the free throw line in Villanova's sixth straight victory.
Josh Hart added 16 points, Mikal Bridges scored 15, and Kris Jenkins 13 for the Wildcats (25-2, 12-2 Big East). Villanova played without Darryl Reynolds for the second straight game due to a rib injury, but the defending national champions still had more than enough to put away last-place DePaul (8-18, 1-12).
The Blue Demons shot 38 percent (22 for 58) from the field in their ninth straight loss. They also committed 14 turnovers, leading to 16 points for the opportunistic Wildcats.
(At) No. 3 Kansas 84, No. 9 West Virginia 80 (OT): Frank Mason III had 24 points, including two free throws to cap a frantic comeback from 14 down in the final three minutes of regulation, and Kansas stunned West Virginia to assume control of the Big 12 race.
Devonte Graham added 18 points, hitting two of his five 3-pointers in the extra period, and Josh Jackson added 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Jayhawks (23-3, 11-2) avenged a loss in Morgantown while extending their lead over fourth-ranked Baylor to two games in the league standings.
Esa Ahmad scored 20 points and Tarik Phillip had 18 for the Mountaineers (20-6, 8-5), who appeared to have the game locked up when they led 64-50 with 2:58 left in the second half.
No. 8 Louisville 76, (at) Syracuse 72 (OT): Louisville scored 10 consecutive points in overtime, including five straight by Anas Mahmoud, to outlast Syracuse.
John Gillon sent the game to overtime for Syracuse (16-11, 8-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) by hitting a 3-pointer with 40 seconds to go in regulation that tied the score at 58. The Orange took a 63-61 lead on two free throws by Andrew White (22 points), but Louisville scored the next 10 points to take control and hold on.
Tyler Roberson went to the line for two shots that would have tied the game at 74 with 2.7 seconds to go in OT but he missed both.
Donovan Mitchell scored 16 points, including 13 in the second half, and Quentin Snider added 14 to lead Louisville (21-5, 9-4).