LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 16 Texas Tech threw the first blows to establish a 20-point halftime lead, withstood second-half body shots and stood victorious in the center of the ring celebrating with its fans after taking an 84-78 win over No. 3 Illinois on Tuesday at United Supermarkets Arena. The win extends a 49 game non-conference home winning streak and is the highest ranked non-conference home win in Red Raider history.
"This place will not let us lose," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "What a great team win in an amazing environment. I'm thankful for everyone that made a difference and helped us win this basketball game."
Cruz Davis led the Red Raiders (3-0) with 20 points and five assists while Jamichael Stillwell secured a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in his first game of the season. Five players scored in double figures in the win, including Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn going for 15 points, Donovan Atwell scoring 13 with three 3-pointers and Damarion Dennis knocking down two 3s and finishing with 10 points. Texas Tech finished the game with a 43-32 rebounding advantage and held the Fighting Illini (2-1) to only 50% shooting from the field, forced 16 turnovers and to 38 points below their season scoring average. Defensively, Atwell recorded a career-high five steals while Gibbs-Lawhorn and Darrion Williams had two each. Williams added five rebounds while Josiah Moseley had four rebounds.
"It was our ability to compete on the glass and battle," McCasland said. "I felt like if we could rebound, we could win."
Tech led 49-29 at halftime but would see Illinois fight back and bring it down to a one-point game when Andrej Stojakovic made a layup to make it 65-64 with 5:37 to play. On Tech's next trip down the court, Dennis hit a huge 3-pointer to push back on the Fighting Illini's moment and within a minute Atwell buried another 3-pointer to put the Red Raiders up 71-66. Down the stretch, Illinois never went away but could never even or take the lead with Tech continuing to put up points, including a jumper by Davis to push it to an eight point lead with two minutes remaining and Atwell and Williams both hitting two free throws in the final 30 seconds.
Davis, who had scored 15 points in each of the first two wins of the season, finished the game 3-for-6 on 3-pointers. Stillwell, making his Tech debut after transferring from UCF, had six offensive rebounds and was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. It was his 26th career double-double and the first for a Red Raider this season.
"I thought Jamichael's physicality and getting fouled five times was big," McCasland said. "He just threw his body in there and came up with huge rebounds. It's remarkable the difference he makes. Cruz Davis composure was on display."
Tech jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead after dominating with a 23-15 rebounding advantage and outscoring the Illinois 15-2 off turnovers. Davis and Gibbs-Lawhorn led the Red Raiders with 13 points each at halftime while Stillwell had seven points and seven rebounds in 10 minutes of play. Tech forced 11 turnovers with Atwell having three steals and also scoring three points. The Red Raiders scored on their first possession with Bagayoko getting an assist from Gibbs-Lawhorn and the lead was at 7-2 early on a Davis 3-pointer. Illinois would tie the game at 17 but a 9-0 run by Tech had it leading 37-24 before a 6-0 run capped by a Gibbs-Lawhorn layup had the Red Raiders leading 43-26. The Red Raiders led by 20 for the first time with Gibbs-Lawhorn hitting a 3-pointer in the final minute of the half. Gibbs-Lawhorn was 6-for-10 from the field and Davis 5-for-9 through 20 minutes of play.
Tech's win over No. 3 Illinois is the highest ranked non-conference home win in program history – surpassing a win over No. 4 SMU back in 1957. Success against ranked opponents is nothing new though and comes a year after the Red Raiders won three games over top-5 ranked opponents, including knocking off No. 3 Duke in a neutral-court game in New York and then topping No. 1 Arizona on the road. The second game of a home-and-home series against Illinois came after the Fighting Illini won 81-77 last season in Champaign, Illinois and evens the all-time series at 1-1. Tech now has two more home games against Stonehill College at noon on Saturday and then New Orleans next week before traveling to Las Vegas where it opens the Players Era against No. 10 Louisville and also has upcoming non-conference games against No. 2 Duke and No. 21 USC.
"I told our guys, we didn't come for this, we came for more than this," McCasland said. "This is a great step for us. We didn't play great in the second half and you have to give them credit. We've got a lot of tough games on our schedule and I think they give you the benefit of being prepared for conference when you play in the best conference in basketball. We want to keep playing games like this. It's fun. There's nothing like playing a game like this at home. We've got the right guys in character and competitiveness. Playing at home in this environment is a separator. It's fun to be on a team and in a place that loves it. There's real passion on our team and it was matched with the energy in the building tonight."
