Texas Tech Red Raider Basketball battled toe-to-toe with the top ranked Kansas Jayhawks Saturday night, but fell in the end 69-59 in Big 12 Conference play.

The Jayhawks led 29-27 at halftime in a back and forth affair where the Red Raiders only lead once in the middle stages of the first half at 11-10. Free throws continued to plague the upstart Red Raiders as they went a paltry 9-19 from the charity stripe, while the Jayhawks capitalized with their trips to the line going 14-16.

Devaugntah Williams struggled for Tech all night as he couldn’t get his shots to fall going 1-8 from the field while Center Norense Odiase and Forward Zack Smith gave herculean efforts in the front court going a combined 9-18 from the field scoring 19 points and pulling 9 rebounds.

The Jayhawks broke out of the halftime break going on 13-5 run to grab a 42-32 lead and they would keep Texas Tech at arm’s length the rest of the game. Kansas would continue to beat Tech on the boards and hold a 42-26 rebounding advantage.

Texas Tech (11-3, 1-2 Big 12) next faces Kansas State on the road in Manhattan as Tech looks to break their two-game losing streak.

Three Things We Learned About Texas Tech

  1. Free throws continue to be a bugaboo for the Red Raiders. Going 9-19 from the line kept the Red Raiders from having a shot to win the game when Kansas didn’t play their best.
  2. Texas Tech will be a tough out in Lubbock. Some 14,231 showed up for the game and if the Red Raiders can continue to play tough at home with a decent home crowd, then it’s not unreasonable to assume Tech will be dancing in March.
  3. Tubby Smith’s rebuilding job continues as the Red Raiders face their first two-game losing streak this season. Writing that sentence is remarkable judging the past eight seasons of Red Raider Basketball.

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