Texas Christian Horned Frogs vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2021

Texas Tech might have some work to do to get NCAA Tournament ready, but the Red Raiders took a big step in that direction on Tuesday.

Sparked by a timely run to close the first half and the best of the season from veteran Kyler Edwards, 18th-ranked Texas Tech rambled past visiting TCU 69-49 in Lubbock for the first win of a busy week leading up to the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Edwards scored 20 points -- 17 in the first half when he shot 6-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3-point range -- and the Red Raiders heated up as a team in the second half to shoot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) to pull away. Edwards ended the game 7-for-8 overall and 4-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.

No other Red Raiders player scored in double digits, but the bench supplied 25 points, led by nine from Tyreek Smith (4-of-4 shooting), who added six rebounds.

RJ Nembhard led TCU with 10 points but was just 4-of-12 shooting and finished with as many turnovers as made shots. Shooting from 3-point range was a problem all night for the Horned Frogs: They finished 4-of-17 with two makes in each half.

The game didn't start out great for the Red Raiders (16-8, 8-7 Big 12), who made just 3-of-10 floor shots in the first several minutes. That allowed the Horned Frogs (12-11, 5-9) to stick close, but the game changed when Edwards got cooking.

He scored seven points in a 9-0 run in the last 2:30 that sent Texas Tech to the locker room up 36-22.

Taking their cues from Edwards -- especially with leading scorer Mac McClung scoreless after taking only two shots in nine minutes in the first half -- the Red Raiders hit 8 of 12 shots in one stretch late in the half.

Meanwhile, TCU never found an offensive groove. The Horned Frogs shot 36 percent (9 of 25) in the first 20 minutes and 38.8 percent for the game.

--Field Level Media