Field Level Media
Feb 13, 2018
Texas Tech's Niem Stevenson hadn't done much of anything offensively until the final minutes Tuesday in a game against No. 23 Oklahoma.
However, with the shot clock winding down and no choice but to shoot, Stevenson buried a fallaway 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining to help lift the No. 7 Red Raiders to an 88-78 win at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
After Stevenson's big trey, Keenan Evans attacked the basket for a thunderous dunk on Texas Tech's next possession.
Evans finished with a game-high 26 points as the Red Raiders won for the seventh consecutive time to maintain their lead in the Big 12.
Norense Odiase added 14 and Zhaire Smith 13 for Texas Tech (22-4, 10-3 Big 12). Stevenson had 12.
Christian James led the Sooners (16-9, 5-6) with 23 points, his second consecutive career-high mark. Trae Young added 19 points but shot just 4 of 16 from the field, missing all nine of his 3-point tries.
Young was just 1 of 7 from the floor in the first half but heated up out of the break, producing eight points in the first 4:08 of the second half.
Young, who missed all five of his 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, bounced back by aggressively driving to the rim, getting a pair of layups, creating space for a long jumper and then earning his way to the free-throw line with another drive.
However, Young couldn't get anything going from the perimeter.
Even with Young's struggles from distance, the Sooners were able to stay in the game thanks to an outburst from Kameron McGusty.
The sophomore scored eight consecutive points for the Sooners during a two-minute stretch midway through the second half. However, the Red Raiders took the lead for good on Evans' 3-pointer with just less than six minutes remaining.
Early in the game, the Sooners made a concerted effort to attack Texas Tech in the middle with Jamuni McNeace.
McNeace was 5 of 6 from the field in the first half as Oklahoma scored 18 points in the paint to take a 37-36 lead into the break. McNeace finished the night with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Young's father, Rayford Young, starred for the Red Raiders from 1996-2000.
--Field Level Media