Kansas State Wildcats vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Match Player Stats On Jan 05, 2021

When a team is in the throes of a basketball hangover, nothing tends to come easily. So, it made sense that 18th-ranked Texas Tech was going to have to scratch and claw against a Kansas State crew that has been on a season-long search for answers.

The Red Raiders trudged through the aftermath of a tough home loss against Oklahoma State three days earlier with a gritty second half to down the Wildcats 82-71 in Lubbock, Texas on Tuesday.

Coming off the bench for the first time this season, Texas Tech's Terrence Shannon led the way with 22 points and the Red Raiders got 16 from Mac McClung and 14 points from Marcus Santos-Silva. Shannon was almost perfect from the free-throw line (11-of-12) to spark a solid night at the stripe (30-of-36) for Texas Tech.

Nijel Pack and Selton Miguel paced K-State with 17 points apiece. The Wildcats were stout from outside the 3-point line in the first half (5-of-11) but scuffled after halftime from deep (3 for 13) on the way to getting outscored 46-40.

Kansas State (5-7, 1-3 Big 12) was still in range, down 39-35, after Davion Bradford scored on a layup with 18:12 left in the game. But Texas Tech (9-3, 2-2) unleashed a 19-6 run to move the lead to 58-41 on McClung's dribble-drive layup at the 11:56 juncture.

The Wildcats crawled as close as 65-58 with 6:11 on the clock on Seryee Lewis' second-chance layup, but he was tagged with a technical foul on the basket, sending Shannon to the free-throw line. Shannon hit both and scored on offensive rebound on the next trip, and the lead never dwindled below double digits again until the final minute.

Texas Tech surged back to take a 36-31 halftime lead after falling into a 17-10 hole in the opening nine-plus minutes.

The Red Raiders grabbed control by working inside-out against the depth-shy Wildcats, with Santos-Silva as the focal point. He scored 11 points in a first half when his team generated 14 points in the paint.

Pack provided the spark for the Wildcats with 15 first-half points. He cranked in 6-of-7 field goals, 3-of-4 from outside the 3-point arc. K-State was in danger of fading late in the half before hitting five of its final six shots to hang around.

--Field Level Media