Red Raiders hold Young to off night

Texas Tech’s Norense Odiase (32) shoots a layup in front of Oklahoma’s Kadeem Lattin on Tuesday during the No. 7 Red Raiders’ 88-78 victory over the No. 23 Sooners in Lubbock, Texas.
Texas Tech’s Norense Odiase (32) shoots a layup in front of Oklahoma’s Kadeem Lattin on Tuesday during the No. 7 Red Raiders’ 88-78 victory over the No. 23 Sooners in Lubbock, Texas.

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Keenan Evans and the rolling Texas Tech Red Raiders had their defensive focus on Oklahoma freshman scoring sensation Trae Young.

So did the hostile home crowd, for a slightly different reason.

Evans scored 26 points and No. 7 Texas Tech beat the 23rd-ranked Sooners 88-78 on Tuesday night in Young's first college game in the city where the Division I scoring leader was born.

Young, the son of former Texas Tech player Rayford Young, missed all nine three-pointers while finishing with 19 points while getting booed just about every time he touched the ball in the fourth straight loss for the Sooners (16-9, 6-7 Big 12).

"I get that everywhere I go," said Young, who finished 10 points below his average. "Just because I'm back here in Lubbock, I didn't feel like I was going to get a welcome home type of feel. It's crazy everywhere I go, so I wasn't expecting anything different tonight."

The Red Raiders (22-4, 10-3) won their seventh consecutive game, including a six-game Big 12 run that's the best in the conference this season. They tied the Sooners for the most Top 25 victories nationally this season at six.

Texas Tech also maintained a one-game lead over No. 13 Kansas, which has won 13 consecutive regular-season titles.

"We're locking people down," said center Norense Odiase, who had 14 points. "We're really harping on defense, much as we have all year. But we're tightening it up together in these last six, seven games. We've been playing well on that end."

Evans went 4 of 7 from three-point range, including a fadeaway shot from the left corner that put Texas Tech ahead 79-71 with less than two minutes to go.

The senior guard added his second dunk of the second half moments later between two Oklahoma three-pointers as the Sooners tried to stay close in a game that lacked late drama despite 17 ties and 11 lead changes.

Evans easily outscored Young in a matchup of the Big 12's top two scorers.

"Trae doesn't have many shooting nights like that," Texas Tech Coach Chris Beard said. "But I think you've got to give our guys some credit because we contested shots. We made it tough on him at times in the game."

The crowd was ready for what will be Young's only appearance in Lubbock if the freshman declares for the NBA Draft this summer, as expected. One fan greeted him with a sign picturing Young as a child wearing a Texas Tech T-shirt and showing the school's "guns up" sign.

NO. 1 VIRGINIA 59, MIAMI 50

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- New No. 1 Virginia looked the part Tuesday, never trailing and holding Miami to 38 percent shooting.

Virginia's De'Andre Hunter scored 22 points, including a four-point play. But defense was the difference for the Cavaliers, who limited an opponent to 50 points or less for the 12th time.

The Cavaliers (24-2, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won in their first game since 1982 as the No. 1 team. They bounced back from an overtime home loss Saturday to Virginia Tech that ended a 15-game winning streak.

The Hurricanes (18-7, 7-6) lost their second in a row.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 87,

MINNESOTA 57

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jaren Jackson Jr. scored a career-high 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting for second-ranked Michigan State, and the Spartans cruised to their ninth consecutive victory by beating Minnesota.

The Spartans (25-3, 13-2) notched their best 28-game record under Coach Tom Izzo and pulled within a half-game of first-place Ohio State in the Big Ten despite just five points in 25 minutes from star Miles Bridges.

Nick Ward had 13 points and 9 rebounds and Cassius Winston pitched in 12 points for the Spartans.

Isaiah Washington scored 18 points and Jordan Murphy added 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Gophers (14-14, 3-12).

NO. 13 KANSAS 83,

IOWA STATE 77

AMES, Iowa -- Udoka Azubuike scored 19 points, Malik Newman had 17 and 13th-ranked Kansas bounced back from a brutal loss at Baylor by beating Iowa State.

Lagerald Vick scored 16 points for the Jayhawks (20-6, 9-4 Big 12), who shot 48.4 percent from the floor and committed seven turnovers.

Kansas took a five-point lead into the break after Nick Weiler-Babb's long three-pointer to end the half was waved off, and it quickly jumped ahead by 11 early in the second half.

The Cyclones (13-12, 4-9) chipped away at that deficit at times, even getting as close as three.

NO. 16 RHODE ISLAND 85,

RICHMOND 67

KINGSTON, R.I. -- Jared Terrell had 17 points and Rhode Island extended its winning streak to 16 games with a victory over Richmond.

Cyril Langevine added 15 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Rams (21-3, 13-0 Atlantic 10), who now have the longest single-season streak in school history. The longest ever was 22 games over two seasons in 1937-38 and 1938-39.

Rhode Island has won four of its last five meetings with the Spiders (9-16, 7-6).

NO. 18 TENNESSEE 70,

SOUTH CAROLINA 67

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Grant Williams scored 22 points and made a big basket in the closing seconds Tuesday as No. 18 Tennessee edged South Carolina to hand the Gamecocks their sixth consecutive loss.

Tennessee (19-6, 9-4 SEC) has won seven of its last eight and 10 of its last 12. The Volunteers got back on track three nights after losing 78-50 at Alabama for their most lopsided defeat of the season.

South Carolina (13-13, 4-9) continued its slide as the Gamecocks have spent the last three weeks falling out of NCAA Tournament contention one season after their first Final Four appearance.

MISSOURI 62,

NO. 21 TEXAS A&M 58

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Kassius Robertson scored 16 points, Jordan Barnett added 15 and Missouri defeated No. 21 Texas A&M (17-9, 6-7 SEC)to push its winning streak to five games.

The Tigers (18-8, 8-5) played solid defense and clean offense, but struggled in the last five minutes against the press.

Up two points with 14 seconds left, Missouri turned the ball over on an inbound play. Texas A&M's Robert Williams missed a layup with a chance to tie, and the Tigers closed it out at the free-throw line.

SEC

ALABAMA 80, LSU 65

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Donta Hall had 20 points and eight rebounds, including some powerful dunks, to lead Alabama to a victory over LSU on Tuesday night.

Hall spearheaded a 26-3 second-half run that turned a one-point game into a second straight lopsided win for the Crimson Tide (17-9, 8-5 SEC).

The Tigers (14-11, 5-8) managed just one field goal in a span of 13-plus minutes.

Sports on 02/14/2018

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