With just 1.2 seconds left on the clock in the game and a
missed three-pointer by Jamal Williams from the corner, it looked as though the
Red Raiders and Mountaineers were bound for overtime.
But junior Dejan Kravic had other plans, which included
punching Texas Tech’s (11-19, 3-15 in Big 12 Conference play) ticket to the
second round of the Big 12 Championships with a game-winning put-back layup
with just four-tenths of a second left on the clock securing the 71-69 victory.
Kravics’ bucket at the end, propelling
him to a double-digit performance, 10 points and seven rounds, marked his
second-straight double-figure outing and third in the last five games.
Joining Kravic in breaking the 10-point barrier were Josh Gray (10), Jordan Tolbert (11), Ty Nurse (12), and Jaye Crockett with a
team-high and game-high 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field.
For the Mountaineers (13-19, 6-12), the bench was crucial as
Terry Henderson provided a spark going 5-for-9 from the field for 12 points.
Aaric Murray and Deniz Kilicli were the only other
players for Bob Huggins’ squad to reach double-digits, 11 and 10 points,
respectively.
Arguably the most impressive statistic in the game was the
Red Raiders shooting 66.7 percent from behind the arc.
The 66.7 percent shooting from three-point range marks a
season-high for the Red Raiders and is the highest since Tech shot for 60
percent against TCU in the Big 12 opener.
In the last two games, coming into the tournament, against
Kansas and Texas, the Red Raiders shot for 6.7 and 18.8 percent from beyond the
arc, respectively.
Tech now faces top-seeded Kansas in the second round of the
Big 12 Championships on Saturday.
The two times the teams met during the regular season, both
victories were dominated by the Jayhawks, falling 60-46 in Lubbock on January
12 and most recently 79-42 in Lawrence, Kansas giving the Jayhawks the season
sweep.
Tech and Kansas are set to tip off for the third round of
the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Sprint
Center.