The Texas Tech big men came ready to play on Wednesday night. Damir Suljagic, Trevor Cook, and Esmir Rizvic combined for 17 points in the first half which propelled the Red Raiders to a 32-17 halftime lead.
A&M’s 15 point deficit at half was their largest of the season.
Although Tech’s offense was only 11-25 through the first half, their defense is what allowed the big lead at the half. Texas A&M was unable to get their offense moving because of the tough man-to-man defense played by the Red Raiders.
Shooting only 6-26 (23.1%) from the field in the first half, the Aggies had an uphill battle to try and get back into the game in the 2nd half.
The Red Raiders ended the first half on a 20-3 run.
Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon, known for playing aggressive man-to-man defense, tried out a zone in the middle of the 2nd half to try and slow down the Tech offense. Zeno got a great pass on the baseline and made an unbelievable shot and got fouled, which pushed the Red Raider lead up to 19 points.
After his 900th career win, Coach Knight took the floor to say a few words.
“Our players really played hard tonight against a really good team. But, you people here tonight made one hell of a difference in the way Texas Tech played.”
Attendance: 11,268