Texas A&M Rallies To Beat Texas Tech 47-38
LUBBOCK (AP) - Elston Turner felt relief that he and his Texas A&M teammates finally got a Big 12 road win, beating Texas Tech 47-38 on Tuesday night in their final Big 12 matchup with the Red Raiders.
"Any win's a great win," said Turner, who led the Aggies with 16 points. "It's hard to win, so when you do and you do it to another Texas team, a Big 12 team as we're about to leave, I mean, it's just that much better."
Khris Middleton added 11 for A&M, which ended a four-game skid with the win and was 0-6 in road games until beating the Red Raiders.
The Aggies (13-12, 4-9) overcame a 15-point deficit and pulled ahead for the first time during an 18-5 run that included eight points from David Loubeau and five from Middleton.
After shooting 48 percent in the first half, Texas Tech went cold. The Red Raiders finished 5 of 19 from the field after the break, and scored just 12 points in the second half to finish with their lowest total of points in a game this season.
A&M shot poorly in the first half -- 28 percent -- compared to 39 percent in the second half.
"I thought we did a much better job in the second half," Aggies coach Billy Kennedy said. "We played the guys who were playing well and being aggressive and attacking. We had some turnovers in the first half from some guys who were playing on the back of their heels."
Jaye Crockett scored 12 points to lead Texas Tech (8-17, 1-12).
The Aggies won in Lubbock for the fourth straight time.
Texas A&M got back into the game using a 17-2 run that spanned the two halves to tie the game at 26 early in the second half when Turner hit a short jumper. Ten minutes later they tied it again at 36.
The difference came down to the Aggies getting offensive rebounds. They had nine in the first half and got 10 points off the 11 offensive rebounds in the second half.
Overall, A&M outrebounded the Red Raiders 41-23.
"It's been a focus all my career if I miss a shot," said Loubeau, who led A&M with eight rebounds, five of them offensive. "I chase a shot, and I try to go up strong with it."
Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie said his team wasn't tough enough in the lane to win.
"They had 20 offensive rebounds, we only had 23 total rebounds and basically that was the story of the game," he said. "We defended well enough to win. You give up 47 points, you're supposed to win at home but we just didn't score."
The Aggies got their first lead with 6:43 remaining when Loubeau grabbed a rebound off a jumper by Middleton from the corner and slammed it down to put A&M up 38-36. The Red Raiders scored just once after that when Crockett got a dunk.
Texas Tech's cold shooting started late in the first half. The Red Raiders missed on six of their last seven possessions and failed to score in their first four possessions of the second half.
Tech led 26-17 at halftime, only the second time in Big 12 play that the Red Raiders have held a lead at the break. They used a 15-4 run that included field goals from Javaris Willis, Crockett, Robert Lewandowski and a 3-pointer by Ty Nurse.
"We were up 24-9," Willis said of the Red Raiders' early lead. "I gave up a 3, Ty gave up a 3, and we just gave them hope."
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