Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Missouri State
Men's Basketball Defeats Missouri State, 80-68
November 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Devaugntah Williams scored 18 points to lead Texas Tech to an 80-68 home win Saturday night against Missouri State.
The Red Raiders (2-1) needed a strong second half to pull away. Missouri State (2-1) evened the score at 44 with 17:54 left in the second half on Austin Ruder's 3-pointer, but the Red Raiders scored seven straight over the next 2:32 to take a 51-44 lead.
The Bears pulled to within four points twice but couldn't come closer.
Texas Tech survived an early onslaught from Marcus Marshall, who finished with 27 points. He scored his team's first 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting. His final bucket in that span put the Bears within 18-17 with 11:48 left in the first half.
Williams, who has been dealing with an injury, extended the Red Raiders to 21-17 with a 3-pointer and added another with 9:37 left in the half to push the lead to 27-19.
Missouri State went on a 9-2 run to pull within 29-28 with 7:48 left. They would get no closer for the remainder of the first half and trailed 42-38 at halftime.
Norense Odiase dunked to give Texas Tech a 44-39 lead with 19:02 remaining in the second half, but a jumper by Marshall and Ruder's 3-pointer evened the score.
Odiase added 14 points for the Red Raiders.
The Red Raiders held a 70-61 with 4:43 remaining and went on a 10-7 run to close out the game. They led by as many as 19 in the second half.
