The Texas Tech Red Raiders fell to the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks 75-72 Tuesday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.
It’s the Red Raiders’ first loss at home since Feb. 9, 2021, when they lost to West Virginia. Tech won 29 straight home games coming into Tuesday.
In the press conference, Tech head coach Mark Adams, freshman Pop Isaacs and freshman Lamar Washington were sniffing and had red eyes from after the game.
Adams said there were a lot of tears, especially with the streak coming to an end, the second-half push, and the next-to-last possession for Tech that was not called a foul when Kansas senior Kevin McCullar Jr. got physical and stole the ball from Isaacs with nine seconds left. Tech was down just one point until McCullar pushed the ball to sophomore KJ Adams Jr., who dunked it.
“It was a very painful time right after the game to talk about that,” Mark Adams said. “A lot of tears, but the guys just played their hearts out, and I was so proud of the way they responded that second half. It just hurts that the game had to end that way.”
Isaacs said he thought it was a foul, but he said it was a physical game throughout and life’s not fair sometimes.
Texas Tech (10-4) falls to 0-2 in Big 12 play, and Kansas (13-1) improves to 2-0 in the Big 12.
Tech super-senior Kevin Obanor had a marvelous game, especially in the second half, with 26 points to get Tech close in key situations. Isaacs had 18 points for Texas Tech to follow up his 17-point performance against TCU. Fellow freshman Jaylon Tyson almost had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Kansas senior Kevin McCullar Jr., who transferred from Texas Tech after three seasons, was met with boos every time he came onto the court or had the ball in his hands.
He had just seven points and one steal, but he had a big shot to give Kansas a 73-70 lead late after Tech got within a point, and he had the game-saving steal.
Kansas head coach Bill Self said McCullar loved it at Texas Tech, referencing how both of McCullar’s parents went to Tech and he loved the staff at Tech.
Self said the crowd reaction to McCullar was exactly what it should have been, and McCullar knows that.
“I think that Kevin played pretty well,” Self said. “I thought he was aggressive. You know, he didn’t make shots, but he made the biggest shot of the game, and he didn’t do a ton, but he got the biggest steal of the game, so we wouldn’t have won the game without Kevin in the last 30 seconds or 40 seconds, whatever it was.”
McCullar said Kansas stuck together to get their first road Big 12 win, and he said it’s just another game where fans will be fans. He understood the reaction to him.
“I know millions of kids out there who want to be in my position that I’m in right now, so life’s too short to let some boos and some yelling and stuff like that get to me,” McCullar said, “so I just went out there and stayed with my brothers, they had my back, and we pulled out the W.”
Junior Dajuan Harris Jr. had his best game of the year for Kansas, scoring a season-high 18 points as he didn’t miss a shot until the second half.
Self has told Harris to shoot the ball more, and tonight, he took five three-pointers and made all five.
“Texas Tech made me make shots today, and they just happened to fall today,” Harris said, “but I told my teammates before the game had started [that] I felt good for some reason, so I guess, tonight was my night.”
Texas Tech had 15 turnovers and just seven in the second half, which pleased Mark Adams. Only one of them was in the last 12 minutes of the game: the game-saving steal from McCullar on Isaacs.
Texas Tech got down 5-2 early but then went on an 11-0 run to go up 13-5. The run was capped by an Obanor and-one layup on McCullar.
Kansas clawed back in it as junior Jalen Wilson, who finished with 16 points, showed why he might be one of the best players in the country, and Harris seemed to be unable to miss. Kansas took a 43-36 lead into halftime.
KJ Adams Jr. scored the last eight points of the first half for Kansas on the inside as Kansas took a 43-36 lead.
Freshman Gradey Dick made an impact early in the second half for Kansas as they continued their momentum, but Tech was able to get back into it with big shots and defensive play from Isaacs, who added two steals.
Harris continued to be red-hot in his performance as it seemed like Tech was unable to stop Kansas on some easy possessions that we’re not used to with a Mark Adams-led team.
Then, the Tech defense started to get better, and the Kansas offense slowed down, and that’s when Tech really crept back into the game.
Obanor had some big three-pointers to cut the Red Raider lead to five points twice: at 57-52 and then at 71-66 from way deep.
Isaacs made two free throws and Washington made a layup to get Tech within a point, but that was when McCullar made the fadeaway jumper to give Kansas a three-point lead again.
Obanor cut the deficit to a point, and after Dick missed a shot, the next-to-last possession happened where McCullar stole it and pushed it to KJ Adams Jr. for the dunk.
Looking ahead
Mark Adams mentioned Monday that Batcho was 50-60% against TCU after an illness, and although he made an impact at times, he never could quite get it going at the level he showed in non-conference play. He finished with six points, six rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes.
He said again that Batcho is still recovering, and Batcho getting back to full strength is something to look forward to.
Both Washington and Isaacs said they learned a lot from this game about how every play is important and how they can keep fighting down the stretch.
It almost resulted in them stealing this one from Kansas.
The Tech fanbase continued to support this team from start to finish, even with classes still not in session for another week.
Red Raider fans will get another chance to support at home as Texas Tech plays the Oklahoma Sooners (9-4, 0-1 Big 12) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the United Supermarkets Arena. Tech has won four of the last five and 8 of the last 10 games against the Sooners.
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