(From L to R) Kevin Obanor, De’Vion Harmon, and Jaylon Tyson rush towards the bench after beating Iowa State in overtime. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
D’Maurian Williams high fives a young fan during the postgame celebration. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Elijah Fisher drives to the basket. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Kevin Obanor and Jaylon Tyson guard Jaren Holmes after a rebound. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Robert Jennings goes up for a layup. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Kevin Obanor and Jaren Holmes fight for a ball before overtime. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
KJ Allen watches his three-pointer go in. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Kevin Obanor and fans celebrate after a foul is drawn. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Coach Mark Adams points his players into formation. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Lamar Washington slam dunks to keep the game close. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Jaylon Tyson celebrates a layup and one. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
De’Vion Harmon drives to the basket. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Lamar Washington goes up for a layup. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
The team huddles up at half court during overtime. (Photo by Andrew Watters) 
Jaylon Tyson and Lamar Washington hug after taking the lead in overtime. (Photo by Andrew Watters)
A six-point lead to TCU after leading most of the game. A three-point loss to Kansas. A comeback that wasn’t completed in an overtime loss to Oklahoma. A 34-point drubbing at the hands of Iowa State. A two-point loss to Texas after a halftime lead. A seven-point loss to Baylor. A 10-point loss to a surging Kansas State. A demoralizing 15-point loss to West Virginia after an early 10-point lead, and Pop Isaacs got hurt in that game, too.
Then Monday, Texas Tech men’s basketball was down 23 to Iowa State with 12:38 to go. Iowa State looked like they would roll over Texas Tech once again.
What happened next was improbable as they found a way to claw all the way back and take down the No. 13 Iowa State Cyclones (15-6, 6-3 Big 12) 80-77 in overtime at the United Supermarkets Arena to finally get their first Big 12 win.
Between the senior leadership of Kevin Obanor and De’Vion Harmon combined with the youthful push of Jaylon Tyson and Lamar Washington, this team found a way to do something that Tech fans, ourselves included, didn’t think was possible at many points in the game.
The 23-point comeback is the largest in Big 12 history, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
Texas Tech (12-10, 1-8 Big 12) was down 17 at the half. Their win from a 17-point halftime deficit was their first since Dec. 27, 1997, when they beat Nevada in Reno, according to the Tech record book.
“I don’t know if, as a coach, I’ve ever been in a situation where we’re down as many points against such a good basketball team in Iowa State,” Tech head coach Mark Adams said, “and they’re one of the most efficient teams in the conference, in first place, and for us to come back and beat a team of their caliber just says so much about our team’s heart and their determination, commitment and love for each other.”
Harmon, who had 16 points, four rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes, was emotional talking about how proud he was of this team playing with so much grit and fight, and he wouldn’t want to play for another team right now.
“There’s not another group of guys that I’d rather play with. Not another coach I’d rather play for,” Harmon said. “He takes so much heat, but we can shut all that out, man.”
He said later it wasn’t even about Xs and Os; it was about who wanted it more. He referenced how they hadn’t always finished games, but they definitely finished Monday.
Obanor finished with 24 points, his third straight 20-point game, and 13 rebounds for a double-double in 42 minutes.
He had a great statement that really can’t be written here without taking too long, so we’ll just give you the tweet.
Recap
Caleb Grill finished with 24 points, 15 of them coming in the first half where it seemed like Texas Tech had no answer. All of Grill’s points were three-pointers. Gabe Kalscheur added 19 points of his own for Iowa State as even in the first part of the second half, it felt like Tech had no energy and Iowa State was scoring at will.
Down 61-42, Obanor laid it in, then Tyson got a steal on the inbounds pass and got the and-one layup to suddenly make it a 14-point game.
With 6:55 left in regulation, a big Lamar Washington steal and dunk cut it to a nine-point deficit, the first time Tech was only down single digits since the 6:29 mark in the first half.
Harmon talked about how good it felt to see Tyson and Washington step up right there, and the energy showed the love they have for each other.
“When you see those guys, you know you see JT [Tyson] getting the crowd involved and he’s hyped, and Lamar’s hyped, that just spreads energy,” Harmon said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, creating that energy. When you see your teammates doing it, that’s contagious. It makes you do it. I saw Lamar doing it, and I was like, ‘Oh well, shoot, let’s get it poppin!’”
Tyson had nine of his 11 points in the second half, while Washington had six of his eight points in the second half. Obanor, Harmon, Tyson and Washington all had more points in the second half than in the first.
Down five points late, Obanor made a three-pointer, then Grill couldn’t cleanly catch the pass and it went off of Harmon’s head, then Grill’s arm to give Tech the ball back. Harmon was fouled shortly after and made both free throws to force overtime after a 49-point second half.
In overtime, it was back-and-forth as Tech finally got their first lead, but missed free throws and open shots to go down three points.
From there, Harmon managed to score the next five points and just take the lead back, Obanor made two free throws later, and Iowa State missed four three-pointers in the last 30 seconds as Tech finished off the impossible.
Tech used a smaller lineup down the stretch as sophomore center Daniel Batcho didn’t play after the 19:06 mark in the second half, and super-senior Fardaws Aimaq was out after reaggravating his foot injury.
Adams said Batcho’s knee was bothering him, so they went to the smaller lineup, and it worked for them because Iowa State had to adjust.
Up Next
It’s hard to focus on considering the way the win happened, but Obanor got 2,000 career points to go with his 1,000 career rebounds, becoming one of just three active Division I players to do so.
Adams said Aimaq is getting close to being back, although he doesn’t know exactly when. Adams said they want to make sure he’s healthy.
The freshman Isaacs didn’t play his second straight game after suffering an ankle injury Jan. 25 against West Virginia. He was seen on a scooter with a boot.
Adams said they don’t know when Isaacs will be back, but Isaacs is tough, so Adams thinks it could be another week or two before the doctors even think it will be.
Texas Tech has a little bit of a longer break between games than usual.
They’ll try to ride the momentum from the LSU and Iowa State wins as they go to Waco to play Baylor at noon Saturday.
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