No. 20 Texas Tech men’s basketball survived the University of Wyoming’s offensive attack with a 76-72 victory Sunday afternoon in the United Supermarkets Arena.
Sunday’s matchup brings the second consecutive year the Red Raiders and Cowboys have played each other, with Tech winning last year by a score of 96-49. However, in this season’s contest, the Red Raiders encountered a staggeringly different Wyoming squad.
The Red Raiders began to pull away from the Cowboys late in the first half, going up by a game-high 10 points. However, the Cowboys didn’t go into halftime without a fight. In the minutes leading up to the halftime buzzer, Wyoming went on an 11-2 scoring run, entering the locker room with momentum and lessening the deficit to a single point at 38-37.
Senior guard Leland Walker, who leads Wyoming in points per game at 12.6, was the Cowboys’ most efficient scorer on the day in both halves. Walker finished the ball game as either team’s leading scorer with a season-high 28 points, according to Wyoming Athletics.
The Cowboys were either tied or in the lead up until the 14:30 mark in the second half when Tech junior forward JT Toppin sank a second-chance jumper.
Tech held on to the lead or a tied score for 7:08 despite the Cowboys constantly staying on the Red Raiders’ heels. The Cowboys once again took the lead at 56-55, but it was the last Wyoming lead of the ball game after Toppin immediately put Tech back on top the following possession.
Toppin was Tech’s leading scorer for the fourth time this season with 27 points on 11-for-18 shooting, while also claiming nine rebounds.
While Toppin was the statistical leader in both categories on Sunday, junior forward LeJuan Watts aided Tech offensively as well. Watts gave the Red Raiders an offensive cushion in the victory at crucial moments and finished the game with 19 points and four rebounds.
Walker struck a late three for Wyoming with eight seconds in the game to put Wyoming within three points at 75-72. Nonetheless, it wasn’t enough as the Red Raiders tacked on another free-throw to ice the game 76-72.
Sunday’s victory marked the Red Raiders’ 44th consecutive home non-conference victory with two more home non-conference games scheduled this season.
Tech’s next matchup will be played at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth at 2 p.m. Sunday against Louisiana State University.