Recap: Obanor, Harmon Lead Tech at EWU

Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech High Kevin Obanor He had a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Texas Tech to a 77-70 win over Eastern Washington on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena.

De’Vion Harmon He had 19 points and a career-high six steals in the win, which extended the Red Raiders’ (7-2) home hitting streak to 27 games. Pop Isaacs He hit three 3-pointers and had 15 points. Played without Tech Daniel Bacho Having been sidelined with an ankle injury, he is now 6-0 at home this season with a total of 21 non-conference road wins.

“Nice win. Credit to Eastern Washington,” O’Banor said. “They’re a very good team. A very long team. Give them credit. It was closer than we wanted it to be and we still have a long way to go, especially against Texas Tech. They won pretty well. We gave up a lot of 50-50 balls and seventy points. We knew we weren’t there yet. But at the same time, it’s kind of early. We’re not going to reach our full potential until the Big 12 and beyond, so it’s just a journey.”

“This game, even though it didn’t show on the stat sheet, proved to ourselves that we can play some defense,” the Texas Tech coach said. Mark Adams Added. “I think all our coaches agree that we have to move on.

O’Banor’s 25 points were a season high and also his most in his two seasons at Tech. He had a career-high 39 points while at ORU, but had a previous Tech best of 23 against Bayern last season. He was coming off a 20-point streak against Nichols last week and now has eight straight games and 97 in double figures in his career. He leads the team with 15 points and 2 points this season.

“We have a group of new guys and you know it starts with me,” O’Banor said. “We have to be better, but it was a tough win. I’m still happy for the boys and you have to keep getting better.”

Lamar Washington He led the Red Raiders with four assists and four points and two steals KJ Allen He had a season-high seven rebounds and five points to lead the reserves. Isaac is now averaging 10.8 points per game and leads Tech with 20 3-pointers. He is currently shooting 42.6 percent on 3-pointers, although he went just 3-for-12 in the win over EWU. Jaylon Tyson He returned from the injury last week and finished with five rebounds and four points. Robert Jennings He started at Bacho’s place and contributed three points.
Tech finished the game shooting 42.2 percent from the field. EWU was 48.1 percent.

“You look at the percentages and you think it wasn’t good defense, but we made a lot of big shots,” Adams said. “It’s a start where we can build on that strength and try to maintain that effort for 40 minutes. I think it was really good for our guys to learn some things going forward.”

The Red Raiders were 19-for-22 at the free throw line and forced 21 turnovers on 4-for-25 shooting by the Eagles on 3-pointers. EWU stayed in the game after going 5-for-11 on 3-pointers, led by Steele Venters, who shot 11-for-28 on 3-pointers and finished with 26 points. Angelo Allegri added 14 points with three 3-pointers. EWU was just 9-for-12 at the free throw line.

Tech and EU were tied 29-29 at halftime, with O’Banor leading the Red Raiders with nine points and six rebounds. Tech was just 2-for-17 on 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes while EWU was 6-for-15 from beyond the arc. Harmon had six points and three steals for the Red Raiders, while Isaacs had five points with one 3-pointer. Allegri led the Eagles with 11 points and five rebounds while Venters had 10 points. Allegri was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first half and Venters hit two. Tech was outshot 14-4 in the paint in the first half and forced 11 turnovers. The Red Raiders were shooting 32.4 percent from the field. EWU shot 40.0 percent heading into the break.

The Red Raiders return to action this weekend against Jackson State at 3 pm Saturday at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston. The game of coaches vs. Racism is part of the HBCU Roundball Classic. Jackson State is 1-8 on the season heading into Wednesday night’s game against Mississippi State in Jackson before taking on Tech in Houston.



Key moments

First half

• EWU won the edge and scored on the opening 3-pointer by Alegria.
• EWU went up 9-2 on a Venters 3-pointer followed by a Harmon Jumper steal and layup to cut the game to 9-6 going into the first media period.
• O’Bannor hit Tech’s first 3-pointer to give the Red Raiders a 13-11 lead with 12:35 left in the first half.. Tech went 0-for-4 in the 3s. Help
• Tech went into the under-8 media break in the first half, hitting 1 of its last 9 shots to take a 16-15 lead with 7:50 to play in halftime. The game
• EWU led 23-17 after Allegri hit his third 3-pointer and sixth of the opening half for the Eagles.. Tech was 1-for-12 on the other end of the court.
• Tyson stopped a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-19…He had four points and a three after the shot…Jennings followed with his first points of the game to cut the game to one and one. 25-24
• Allen assisted on Isaac’s first 3-pointer of the game to give Tech a 29-27 lead… gave him five points and Tech went 2-for-16 in 3 seconds.

Second half

• O’Banor doubled his lead with 11 points following an EEU 3-pointer to start the second half.
• Harmon followed with a layup of steals and fast breaks to score as many as 10 points and cut EWU’s lead to 38-37 at the first media hour of the second half…
• Allen missed a 3-pointer with a season-high sixth rebound and was fouled on a rebound attempt… He would make one of his two free throws to win the game with 14:21 left on the clock.
• Washington led Tech 40-38 with 13:38 left and had a layup and dunk… It was Washington’s first score of the game.
• Tech went on a 6-0 run with Allen making a layup following O’Banor’s layup…the Red Raider lead was 46-41.
• Washington made his second dunk of the half to give Tech a 52-45 lead with 8:43 left… coming off a second steal to make Tech’s fast-break lead 10 points.
• Isaac hit his second 3-pointer of the game to push Tech’s lead to 58-53 with 5:57 left … He had 10 points and Tech went 3-for-22 from 3.
• O’Bannor made a strong layup and Isaac followed with a 3 to push Tech’s lead to 64-59… Harmon gave Tech a 66-59 lead with 4:19 to play… O’Banor had 23 points and 8 rebounds.
• Harmon drove down the court to make a tough basket and answered with a missed free throw to give Tech a 70-65 lead with 2:00 left. He scored 25 points and Tech led 72-65 with 1:50 to play
• Harmon hit free throws with 30 seconds left to score a season-high 19 points.

All on the mirror tonight??@_KevinObanor He recorded his 36th career double-double with 25 points and 10 boards. pic.twitter.com/JO6UZcj7C7

— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) December 14, 2022