No. 6 Longhorns Upset vs. Texas Tech Despite Late Rally
On Valentine's Day Eve, there was hardly any love between the No. 6 Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders Monday at United Supermarkets Arena.
And in a battle that resembled two grudge-filled exes, it was the Red Raiders who came out on top with a 74-67 win.
The Longhorns (20-6, 9-4) tied the game in the final minutes after trailing by 13 in the second half, but it was a feisty Tech (14-12, 3-10) squad that, despite entering Monday tied for last in the conference, had late answers in what resulted in another ranked win at home.
Texas was paced by Marcus Carr, who posted 23 points on 5 of 9 shooting from deep while adding six assists. Forward Dylan Disu finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, but he was the only other Longhorn in double figures. Sir'Jabari Rice got eight points in the first half before going scoreless in the second.
Texas Tech got a career-high 27 points from guard De'Vion Harmon, 21 of which came in the first half. Despite going quiet in the final 20 minutes, it was his toughly-contested layup with 34 seconds left that put the game to bed.
Tech also got some big contributions from its frontcourt, as Fardaws Aimaq posted 12 points and eight rebounds while Kevin Obanor tallied 19 points and six boards.
Texas won the turnover battle 12-6 and hit 11 triples compared to seven for Tech, but the Red Raiders shot 46.6 percent and out-rebounded the Longhorns 41-29.
The Longhorns fell into an early 7-0 hole, but productive 3-point shooting from Brock Cunningham and Rice helped answer a hot start from Harmon.
Even after Carr hit Texas' sixth triple of the first half to make it a 37-35 Tech lead with 1:40 left, Harmon made sure the Horns wouldn't take any momentum into the locker room.
He put together his own 7-0 run in the final minute and change, and had all of Lubbock on its feet after somehow hitting a desperation triple at the halftime buzzer, capping off his 21-point first half and sending the Red Raiders to the locker room with a 44-35 lead.
The Red Raiders built on their advantage even further, taking their biggest lead of 13 after Aimaq got two points inside with 18 minutes to play.
But Carr started to catch fire when Texas needed it most, nailing back-to-back triples to cut the lead to 59-52.
Texas freshman Arterio Morris then punctuated a 12-4 run with a thunderous dunk in transition after a Tech turnover, as it was suddenly a five-point game.
The Red Raiders held Texas at bay momentarily, but it was three 3s from Tyrese Hunter, Carr and Disu that helped tie the game at 64-64 with four minutes left. Another vintage Texas comeback seemed certain.
But from this point on, the Tech frontcourt took over the game. Aimaq assisted Obanor on a pair of dunks while tipping in a miss for two points, as the energy had shifted back toward the Red Raiders in a blink.
This 6-0 run to build a 70-64 lead ultimately proved to be the difference, as the Longhorns suffered their fourth Big 12 loss and fumbled their grip on first place in the conference.
Texas will host the Oklahoma Sooners at Moody Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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