Texas Basketball: Red Raiders Swat Away Horns for Road Win
AUSTIN - T.J. Holyfield came up with a pair of monster blocks on Texas' Matt Coleman in the game's last 20 seconds and Davide Moretti drained four free throws to help Texas pull away for a 62-57 win.
First, he rejected a would-be go-ahead jump shot with 15 seconds to go in the game, forcing Texas to foul. Then, he swatted an off-balanced lay-up attempt, which led to a pair of game-sealing shots from the charity stripe.
"We have to execute better down the stretch," Coleman said. "I take that upon myself."
"He's able to protect that rim in different ways and tonight he was able to do that when we needed it most," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "Sometimes you throw out all the strategy and stuff and that guy's gotta go make a play."
It marked the end of a wild final 10 minutes that included four lead changes and four ties.
Kamaka Hepa hit a huge 3-pointer to give Texas a 46-43 advantage with 8:21 to go in the game.
Texas Tech freshman Jahmi'us Ramsay hit a 3-pointer with 5:46 to go in teh game to give the Red Raiders a 50-48 advantage - their first since leading 4-3 with 14:41 to go in the first half.
Coleman drove into the paint and hit a 5-foot jumper to help Texas regain the advantage with 3:38 to go in the game.
Courtney Ramey's 3-pointer with 2:03 to go in the game gave Texas a 57-56 lead.
Kyler Edwards answered right back for Texas Tech with a mid-range jumper to give the lead back to Tech at 58-57.
Texas flexed its defensive muscles in the first half, holding the defending Big 12 Champions to just 11 points over the first 16 minutes of play and 34 percent shooting.
With the game tied at 8-8, the Longhorns went on a 19-3 run that included back-to-back layups from Kai Jones, and a 3-pointer from Matt Coleman that made the score 27-11 with 4:42 to go in the first half.
Tech went on a 7-2 run over the next four minutes, but the Longhorns closed out the half with a Courtney Ramey jump shot to go into the locker room up 31-19.
Tech fought back in the second half, chipping away at the Texas lead over the next nine minutes, tying the game at 41-41 with an old-fashioned three-point play from Kyler Edwards.
"Today was a tale of two halves for sure," Texas head coach Shaka Smart said. "In the first half, they shot one free throw and in the second half I think they got to the foul line 21 times. They got in the bonus fast."
"(The difference was), Defensively we gave up 19 points in the first half and 43 in the second half," Coleman said. "They raised their level of intensity and we didn't match it."
Andrew Jones led the Longhorns in scoring with 18 points. Coleman had 17.
Ramsay led all scorers for Texas Tech with 18.