Texas Tech rallies from 23 down, beats No. 13 Iowa St. in OT

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Texas Tech coach MarkAdams was just happy fans stuck around for the biggest comeback inschool history, and the first Big 12 win of the season for a Sweet16 team from a year ago.

The Red Raiders erased a 23-point deficit after halftime to endan eight-game conference skid, with De’Vion Harmon scoring all 16of his points after the break in an 80-77 overtime victory againstNo. 13 Iowa State on Monday night.

“I’m still in shock here,” Adams said. “I was just so proud ofour guys. They didn’t give up on themselves. I was proud of thefans. I was afraid they were going to leave at halftime.”

The 23-point comeback matched the largest in a win in Division Ithis season and the largest in a power conference game since BostonCollege overcame the same deficit to beat Clemson on Jan. 15, 2022,according to KenPom.

The Red Raiders trailed 59-36 with 12:36 remaining after one ofCaleb Grill’s career-best eight 3-pointers, but a 20-3 run startednot long after to make it close down the stretch.

Kevin Obanor had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Raiders(12-10, 1-8 Big 12), who won their second consecutive gameincluding a victory over LSU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Grill scored 24 points but missed his final three 3-pointersafter starting 8 of 9. One miss was an off-balance air ball on afrantic game-ending sequence in which the Cyclones (15-6, 6-3)missed three from long range trying to force a second overtime.

“They just decided they were going to crank up the pressure,really come after us and try to spread us out,” said Iowa Statecoach T.J. Otzelberger, whose team was coming off a double-digitloss to Missouri in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge that followed a winover fifth-ranked Kansas State. “We got out of sorts.”

Iowa State still led by five with 40 seconds remaining inregulation when Obanor hit a 3-pointer and the Red Raiders forcedone of 13 second-half turnovers from the Cyclones on the inboundplay.

Harmon, who had 11 points in the second half and five in OT, wasfouled on a drive and made both free throws for the first tie ofthe game at 71-all with 21 seconds remaining after Iowa State hadled from the opening bucket.

Iowa State’s Gabe Kalscheur had 19 points but went 0 of 6 from3, with one of the misses coming up short at the buzzer inregulation.

The Red Raiders took their first lead early in overtime on alayup by D’Maurian Williams, and their biggest lead was the finalmargin.

Harmon put them ahead for good with one of two free throws with42 seconds remaining in overtime, and Obanor hit two more afteranother of Grill’s late misses on an off-balance 3.

Grill had the first long try in the final seconds, Jaren Holmesgot the rebound but also was short from beyond the arc. Holmesended up with the ball one more time, but was short again as thebuzzer sounded.

Texas Tech’s biggest previous comeback was from 17 down in a99-94 overtime victory at Nevada on Dec. 27, 1997.

“I thought our defense was much better (in the second half), butthe big thing was just we were the most aggressive team on bothends of the floor the second half,” Adams said. “That was thedifference.”

The Cyclones, who beat Texas Tech by 34 points at home lastmonth, led by 17 at halftime and took their first 20-point lead oneof Grill’s 3s in the opening seconds of the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Iowa State: The Cyclones entered with the Big 12′s best scoringdefense and had held their first seven conference opponents under70 points for the first time since joining the conference in themid-1990s. But three straight teams, including the SEC’s Missouriin a 78-61 win Saturday, have surpassed that mark.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders rallied without freshman point guardPop Isaacs, their leading scorer scorer in conference play. Hemissed a second consecutive game with an ankle injury while6-foot-11 senior center Fardaws Aimaq was out with a footinjury.

GOING COLD

Iowa State’s only field goal in the final 10 minutes ofregulation was the 3-pointer that gave Grill his career high ofeight. The Cyclones were 3 of 16 in the final 10 minutes ofregulation and OT.

“This isn’t a time to figure out who’s fault it was and doom andgloom,” Otzelberger said. “We’ve had some really great moments.We’re going to continue to have some great moments.”

UP NEXT

Iowa State: No. 8 Kansas visits Saturday. The Jayhawks beat theCyclones by two at home on Jan. 14.

Texas Tech: At No. 11 Baylor on Saturday. The Bears can sweepthe season series after the Red Raiders swept last season,including a victory in Waco when Baylor was No. 1.