NCAA News Wire
Kansas 64, Texas Tech 63
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
LUBBOCK, Texas — There is a reason Kansas owns nine consecutive Big 12 championships.
The Jayhawks survive where other conference teams fall.
No. 8 Kansas escaped the Texas Tech trap, pulling out a 64-63 victory over the Red Raiders on Tuesday night at the United Spirit Arena.
Jayhawks center Joel Embiid, apparently trapped at the baseline with time running out, found Wiggins wide open for a layup with three seconds left. Texas Tech’s last-second prayer went unanswered.
With 31 seconds left, Embiid put back a dunk after guard Andrew Wiggins missed a dunk, giving Kansas the lead. Texas Tech guard Robert Turner answered by making two free throws to put the Red Raiders back in front with 12.8 seconds left.
Wiggins finished with a game-high 19 points, while Embiid had 18 points and eight rebounds.
Forward Jordan Tolbert scored 16 to lead five Red Raiders in double figures.
Texas Tech opened the second half on a 8-2 run, taking a five-point lead when Tolbert went down the lane for a basket at the 16:55 mark.
Kansas tied it in less than a minute on a three-point play by Embiid and two free throws by Wiggins. However, the Jayhawks didn’t take the lead again until Embiid hit two foul shots to make it 46-45 with 10:45 left.
Kansas went 22-for-30 from the free-throw line, while Texas Tech was 9-for-14.
Kansas guards Naadir Tharpe, Wayne Selden and Wiggins each hit 3-pointers during a 13-2 run that gave the Jayhawks a 10-point lead with 13:50 left in the first half.
But Texas Tech refused to let Kansas take control so easily.
Red Raiders forward Jaye Crockett hit a 3-pointer to stop the Jayhawks’ surge and Tolbert threw in an alley-oop on an assist from forward Kader Tapsoba to cut Kansas lead to five points.
Late in the half, Texas Tech went on an 8-2 run highlighted by forward Dejan Kravic’s three-point play and guard Dusty Hannahs’ 3-pointer, which sliced Kansas’ lead to 28-27 with 1:28 left before the break.
Kansas made just one field goal, a jumper by Embiid, in the final four minutes of the first half and took a one-point lead to halftime. Embiid led the Jayhawks with nine points in the first 20 minutes.
NOTES: Kansas vs. Texas Tech is the only matchup in the Big 12 that pits national championship-winning coaches against each other. Kansas coach Bill Self led the Jayhawks to the 2008 national championship and Red Raiders coach Tubby Smith guided Kentucky to the national title in 1998. … Kansas has a nine-game winning streak over Texas Tech, winning by an average margin of 25 points during the prior eight games. … In its previous game, a 95-65 win over TCU, Kansas set a season high for points and scored more than 90 for the sixth time this season. … Texas Tech failed in its bid to reach six Big 12 victories for the first time since 2008.
