Chance McMillian hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to play as short-handed No. 22 Texas Tech outlasted host Houston, ranked sixth in the nation, 82-81 in overtime in the Big 12 Conference slugfest on Saturday.
The Cougars had their 13-game winning streak snapped.
The Red Raiders (17-4, 8-2 Big 12) trailed by six points with under four minutes to play but rallied to tie the game on a Darrion Williams’ 3-pointer with 30 seconds left. J’wan Roberts’ layup with one second remaining was then blocked by the Red Raiders’ Federicko Federicko.
Texas Tech never trailed in overtime. Elijah Hawkins’ 3-pointer with 2:49 to play in the extra period gave Texas Tech a 78-74. Houston’s Milos Uzan made it a one-point game with a three-point play with 2:06 left.
Roberts hit a free throw with 1:37 remaining to tie the game at 78. McMillian made a layup, but Roberts countered with two more free throws for another tie at 80 with 1:03 to play.
Roberts then split two free throws with 24.9 seconds left. McMillian, who led all scorers with 23 points, canned his late free throws, and Roberts had a turnover with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Hawkins added 17 points for Texas Tech, with Kerwin Walton scoring 14, Williams 13 and Christian Anderson 10.
LJ Cryer led the Cougars (17-4, 9-1) with 22 points while Roberts finished with 18 and Uzan 10. The loss snapped Houston’s nation-leading 33-game home winning streak and its 19-game Big 12 victory run.
The Red Raiders were forced to play all but the first 3:50 without leading scorer JT Toppin and coach Grant McCasland. Toppin was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected after he kicked Houston’s Joseph Tugler while making a pass; McCasland argued vehemently about the foul and was also sent to the locker room.
A 3-pointer from Anderson granted Texas Tech a 41-37 at the break. McMillian led the Red Raiders with 13 points in the half, while Hawkins added 10. Cryer’s 13 paced Houston.
The Cougars trailed 56-50 with 12:36 to play, but then found another gear, reeling off an 8-0 run to retake the lead and then extending the margin to 66-60 on Cryer’s layup with 3:49 remaining.
–Field Level Media
