JT Toppin scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping No. 9 Texas Tech secure a narrow 76-74 victory over Baylor in a Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinal on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
Darrion Williams contributed 14 points (all in the first half), while Elijah Hawkins and Kerwin Walton each added 12 points for the second-seeded Red Raiders (25-7). In a tense finish, Texas Tech missed their last 10 field goal attempts and made just one of their final 14, going 7:26 without a basket. After halftime, they shot only 19.4 percent from the field, allowing seventh-seeded Baylor to stay in the game.
Norchad Omier was the game’s leading scorer with 29 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor (19-14), with V.J. Edgecombe adding 11 points and Jayden Nunn contributing 10.
The Red Raiders will move on to play either sixth-seeded Kansas or third-seeded Arizona in one of the semifinals on Friday, while Baylor is anticipated to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament next week.
Texas Tech held a 13-point lead at halftime and extended it to 15 just two and a half minutes into the second half. However, Baylor fought back, narrowing the gap to three points with Robert Wright’s layup with 26.5 seconds to go.
With 21 seconds remaining, Kevin Overton of Texas Tech made two free throws to push the lead back to five, but Nunn responded with a 3-pointer, bringing it to 74-72.
Hawkins then hit two free throws to elevate the lead to four before Wright’s layup cut it back to two. Christian Anderson had a chance to seal the game but missed two free throws with 5.8 seconds left, leaving Baylor with a chance, but Edgecombe’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer hit the rim and missed.
In the first half, Texas Tech dominated, leading 47-32 after Williams made a hook shot with 2:56 left. A free throw by Hawkins in the final moments allowed the Red Raiders to take a 52-39 advantage into halftime.
Toppin and Williams each had 14 points before the break, with the Red Raiders matching their highest-scoring first half of the season. Omier led all scorers at halftime with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
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