Kansas came just a few possessions short in its loss to the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Tuesday Night at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. The Jayhawks kept it close for much of the night, but fell 70-65.

Twice in the fourth quarter with under a minute remaining, the Jayhawks had chances to tie the game up, but both late possessions ended with turnovers instead of shot attempts, a consistent theme of the night as they finished the game with 20 turnovers for the seventh time this year.

Guard S’Mya Nichols led the team in scoring with 15 points, all of which came in the second half, and forward Jaliya Davis followed not far behind with 14 despite sitting much of the second half due to foul trouble and eventually fouling out. Guard Elle Evans and forward Regan Williams also managed double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively.

For the Red Raiders, the senior guards led the way with Bailey Maupin recording 23 points while Snudda Collins added 17, and both had a handful of clutch baskets and free throws in the fourth quarter.

Texas Tech’s keys to victory was its full court pressure that lasted the entire game and played a major role in Kansas’ turnover issues, as well as its offensive rebounding as that statistic ended 11-3 in the Red Raiders’ favor. 

Additionally, they managed to keep Davis in foul trouble throughout the game, and the star freshman only scored two points in her limited second half minutes.

Texas Tech’s aggressive style of play disguised their shooting struggles as Kansas surprisingly shot 10% better from the field and 14% better from three, granted with far less shot attempts for both.

Davis came out fast and scored the Jayhawks first eight points with a pair of tough finishes at the rim and four free throws for an early Kansas lead.

Forward Jada Malone kept things close for the Red Raiders with back to back baskets a few minutes into the game, but the Jayhawks defense locked in and went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes with Evans, Davis, forward Lilly Meister and guard Laia Conesa each finding the bottom of the net to reach a 17-7 lead.

The early double digit lead didn’t last long though as Texas Tech was able to create space and get the Kansas defense out of position for two easy layups to end the quarter. Their momentum stayed throughout the break and they opened the second with two quick three point baskets from Collins and guard Denae Fritz to tie things up at 17.

After a couple of scoreless minutes, Maupin hit the third straight three for TTU to extend the run to 13-0 before Davis managed a bucket that stopped the bleeding just before picking up her second foul of the game, putting her on the bench for the remaining five minutes of the first half.

Despite Davis and Nichols both sitting, Kansas stayed in the game by holding Texas Tech to 0-7 shooting through the last four minutes of the quarter, and the Jayhawks went into halftime trailing only 28-25 thanks to an Elle Evans shot from beyond the arc and inside baskets from Meister and Harshaw.

The Red Raiders kept up the pressure on both sides of the ball and opened up the third with forward Mariam Sanogo and Maupin both quickly scoring layups to extend their lead to seven, but the Jayhawks answered back with a 6-0 run that saw Nichols score her first four points of the game to cut the lead back down to one.

After another five points swing in favor of Texas Tech courtesy of a Maupin layup and Collins three, the teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter with Nichols, Evans, and Williams scoring for the Jayhawks as they trailed 45-40 going into the final period.

Evans opened the fourth quarter with her third three pointer of the game, but after both teams traded two point scores Davis picked up her fourth foul with eight minutes remaining and had to sit for the majority of the fourth.

Luckily for KU, when she checked back in with a little under three and a half minutes remaining they remained trailing by just three at 55-52 after free throws Nichols, Williams and Meister as well as a basket from Harshaw.

Davis would quickly get back in the action by going coast to coast for a layup, but on the ensuing possession she was called for her fifth and final foul of the game with exactly two minutes left.

Collins followed this with an immediate and-one opportunity off the inbound pass, but she couldn’t hit the free throw. Nichols responded back with an and-one of her own, and she made her free throw to tie the game at 59.

Five free throws later, four for the Red Raiders courtesy of Collins and guard Jalynn Bristow and one from Jayhawk guard Sania Copeland, Kansas got the ball down three points with 40 seconds remaining and a chance to tie the game, but Evans threw a bad pass to Williams that was stolen by the Red Raiders, and Kansas was forced to foul.

Maupin hit two free throws before guard Brittany Harshaw nailed a three point shot to cut the lead back to two, and after Maupin only made one free throw the next possession the Jayhawks were again down three with the ball and a chance to tie. Once again, they turned the ball over, this time on an illegal screen from Harshaw.

Maupin and guard Sidney Love hit two free throws a piece to end the game while Williams also added two of her own for Kansas to reach the final score of 70-65.

The Jayhawks return home this Saturday to take on the Houston Cougars in Allen Fieldhouse at 4 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.