Hosting the TCU Horned Frogs, the No. 23 Texas Tech Red Raiders outlasted the visitors in a hard-fought 40 minutes at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock on Tuesday.
Leading the Red Raiders to their eighth conference win was none other than Pop Isaacs. The sophomore guard, who found success against the Frogs in January posting 25 points in a loss at the Schollmaier, turned up once again. Isaacs notched a team-leading 19 points on Tuesday, cashing in six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Despite shooting just 4-11 from the field and 0-5 from beyond the arc, Isaacs found success sinking 11-of-12 at the free-throw line.
“A lot of these games come down to the last four minutes and just who gets nastier, who gets tougher. I knew for us to win this game, we were going to have to tough one out…. The togetherness was at a high level tonight,” Isaacs said following the win.
Unfortunately for the Frogs, they led by as much as 10 points with 6 minutes and 55 seconds left in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to stop their foes.
Emanuel Miller led the Frogs and secured a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of six Horned Frogs to reach double digits in scoring alongside Avery Anderson III (15), Jameer Nelson Jr. (14), Micah Peavy (10), Essam Mostafa (10), and JaKobe Coles (10).
While TCU did post 81 points against the Red Raiders, the team shot just 42.3% from the field and faltered from beyond the arc, converting on just 5-of-19 three-pointers (26.3%), marking the team’s 3rd-worst shooting percentage and 7th-worst 3-point percentage in a game this season.
Trailing by two late in the second half, Chance McMillian snatched a rebound and found Isaacs on the fast break. Driving into the paint, Isaacs picked out Darrion Williams for the flush, notting things up at 71. Moments later, Peavy missed both shots from the line, but Coles grabbed the rebound for the put-back to tie the game 75 apiece.
Taking the game by the scruff of the neck, Isaacs secured the Red Raiders’ 19th win this season scoring seven points in the final 1:27. Improving to 8-5 in conference play, Texas Tech now holds the sole position of 4th in the Big 12.
Up next
The Frogs head back to Fort Worth to prepare for the visiting Cincinnati Bearcats. Head coach Jamie Dixon and the Frogs will look to flip the script against the Bearcats on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
