FORT WORTH, Texas — Jaye Crockett scored 13 points, Dusty Hannahs had 12 and Texas Tech defeated TCU 62-53 on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
Crockett’s two free throws with 25 seconds left staved off a late TCU rally, and Hannahs hit 4 of 5 3-pointers.
Jordan Tolbert had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Red Raiders (8-4), who have won three in a row and were playing their first road game of the season. With the win, Chris Walker became the first Texas Tech head coach to win a conference opener on the road in his first season since Dell Morgan in 1933.
Devonta Abron, starting for the first time since Dec. 4, led the Horned Frogs (9-5, 0-1) with 16 points and seven rebounds. TCU had a three-game win streak snapped in its first conference game of its inaugural Big 12 season.
TCU went 6 minutes without a basket in the first half, making only three free throws, while Texas Tech went on a 14-3 run for a 23-11 lead, Tech’s largest of the half. Crockett started that run by dunking an inbound pass from Trency Jackson. Later in the run, Crockett slammed down a dunk on a pass from Josh Gray.
TCU got back in an offensive rhythm with a quick 11-3 run that included a nice reverse layup by Abron. Hannahs hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds to go to extend the Red Raiders’ lead to 29-22 at the half.
In the second half, Jackson’s layup with 8 minutes to go was Tech’s third straight basket and gave the Red Raiders their largest lead to that point, 50-37.
A Nate Butler Lind jumper with 6:53 to play gave TCU its first field goal in 5 1/2 minutes, but it was followed by Crockett’s monster one-handed slam, then a TCU turnover that forced coach Trent Johnson to call a timeout. Hannahs knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game for Tech’s largest lead, 57-41.
TCU had a frantic late rally, going on a 12-1 run that included three fast-break layups, but Crockett’s free throws helped seal the win for the Red Raiders.
After shooting 43 percent from the floor in the first half, the Horned Frogs made just 10 of their 33 shots after halftime.
— AP
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