Donovan Atwell scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as No. 13 Texas Tech overcame two huge losses this week to dust Kansas State 100-72 in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday.
Christian Anderson added 21 points and nine assists for the Red Raiders (20-7, 10-4 Big 12 Conference), while LeJuan Watts hit for 19 points. Luke Bamgboye contributed 12 as Texas Tech canned 54.8% from the field, including 13 of 28 (46.4%) from the 3-point line.
It was a solid bounceback for the Red Raiders, who were coming off a stunning 72-67 loss Tuesday night at Arizona State. Texas Tech also lost star forward JT Toppin, who was averaging team highs of 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, that night with a season-ending ACL tear in his right knee.
PJ Haggerty scored 17 points for the Wildcats (11-16, 2-12) and Nate Johnson added 15 but it wasn’t nearly enough to earn them a second straight win under interim coach Matthew Driscoll. He took over last Sunday after the university fired coach Jerome Tang for criticizing players after a recent loss to Cincinnati.
Kansas State trailed just 70-60 after Johnson canned a short jumper with 9:10 left. But Texas Tech blew the game open by scoring 12 straight points, capped by Anderson’s pullup for an 82-60 advantage with 6:48 remaining.
The Wildcats came in off just their second conference win, a 90-74 rout of Baylor on Tuesday night. But it was apparent early that they didn’t have what it took defensively to slow the Red Raiders, even with Toppin sidelined.
Texas Tech established a 22-12 lead at the 11:26 mark when Jaylen Petty knocked down a 3-pointer. Then Atwell really went to work.
Beginning with a 3-pointer with 10:25 on the clock, Atwell rattled off 18 points in a span of 8:15, converting four 3-pointers in that stretch. That enabled the Red Raiders to take a 49-35 advantage to halftime.
