Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
No. 23 Kentucky
October 23, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LEXINGTON, Kentucky โ No. 19 Texas Tech took a 76-65 exhibition loss to No. 23 Kentucky on Friday at Rupp Arena in its final preseason matchup before starting the 2026-27 season.
Damarion Dennis and Donovan Atwell led the Red Raiders with 11 points each while Cruz Davis went for 10 points and seven assists. Bassala Bagayoko added 10 points and Josiah Moseley led the team with 10 rebounds. Darrion Williams finished the exhibition with nine points, three rebounds, three steals and three assists and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn produced seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
"Rupp's historic for a lot of reasons, but I thought that run in the first half, this place really came alive and made a huge difference. That's what's awesome about exhibition games and playing them on the road in a great environment like this is, you get to feel something that you haven't felt with a new group. I thought that was huge for us to be able to respond to. And then ultimately, I thought Kentucky's length really bothered us."
The Red Raiders finished the exhibition shooting 8-for-30 on 3-pointers, led by Atwell making three. Tech had 18 assists on 26 made shots on the night but went only 5-of-6 at the free-throw line while Kentucky made 19-of-22 free throws. Dennis, who played 25 minutes as a reserve, was 5-for-11 from the field and made one 3-pointer. Bagayoko was 5-for-6 from the field and also had three of Tech's 33 rebounds.
"The biggest emphasis for us moving forward will be like how connected can we be when things go bad," McCasland said. "That says a lot about a team, and that's how you become a champion."
Five Wildcats scored in double figures, led by 15 points from Milan Momcilovic and Malachi Moreno. Kentucky finished the exhibition with seven 3-pointers with Momcilovic, Alex Wilkins and Mason Williams hitting two each.
Texas Tech led by as many as seven in the first half but went into halftime trailing 37-33. Dennis led the Red Raiders with 11 points after going 5-for-8 from the field while Bagayoko added six points and Atwell had five. Davis went into the break with six assists and four points while Williams had four points and two rebounds. Bagayoko scored Tech's first two baskets of the exhibition โ both off assists from Davis who would assist on the first three makes for the Red Raiders. Atwell hit Tech's first 3-pointer to give Tech a 9-4 lead before Spear and Davis both connected from beyond the arc to put the Red Raiders up 23-16. Tech led for most of the first half before the Wildcats went on a 15-0 run and had a 33-25 lead. Dennis broke up the run with a 3-pointer for the Red Raiders who shot 4-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half.
Texas Tech begins its 2026-27 season with a five-game homestand, starting with its opener at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 2 against Jackson State at United Supermarkets Arena.
