LeJuan Watts tallied 20 of his career-high 36 points in the first half, and No. 19 Texas Tech toppled pesky Northern Colorado 101-90 on Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas.
Watts made all but one of his 13 field-goal attempts and hit 9 of 11 at the foul line while grabbing six rebounds and dishing four assists for the Red Raiders (8-3).
Texas Tech’s JT Toppin had 23 points, three rebounds and five blocks. Christian Anderson and Jaylen Petty notched 14 points each and Donovan Atwell scored 10 as Texas Tech shot (59.3%) and made 19 of 24 at the stripe (79.2%).
Texas Tech improved to 6-0 at home and won for the fourth time in the past five games overall.
The Bears (9-2) played without top scorer Quinn Denker (17.3 points) but received a career-high 29 points from Brock Wisne. Zach Bloch totaled 17 points, five rebounds and eight assists. In his first Bears start, Vincent Delano scored 16 as the squad shot 56.1% from the field.
Northern Colorado lost on the road for the first time in five games this season.
Watts, who was averaging 11.6 points per game, was hot from the start, sinking all four of his field-goal attempts and netting 10 of the Red Raiders’ points in a 13-8 stretch over four minutes to start the game.
Texas Tech kept its shooting proficiency early, making 10 of the first 11 shots for a 25-16 lead, but Wisne’s trey from the top of the key pulled the Bears within 25-20.
Petty gave the Red Raiders their first double-digit lead with a nearly 30-foot deep ball from up top, pushing the advantage to 36-26 with 8:10 remaining in the half.
The fast-paced, high-scoring action continued the rest of the period, and Bloch hit a long 3-pointer in the final minute to cut Northern Colorado’s deficit to 56-51 at the break.
Delano led the Bears with 12 first-half points.
Atwell’s 3-pointer with 17:46 remaining put Texas Tech up 67-53, but Wisne’s layup at 13:03 knotted it at 70-all to cap a 17-3 run.
In the game’s final three minutes, the Red Raiders went on an 8-2 run for their 45th straight home win against a nonconference opponent.
–Field Level Media
