After the victory over Oklahoma State that snapped a two-game losing streak, Texas Tech faced another tough challenge in the Big 12 / SEC Challenge, as they faced 2017 Final Four-bound South Carolina.
Despite a 13-7 overall record (4-4 in conference) the Gamecocks proved to be a hard team, as they never led during the first half, but also didn’t allow the Red Raiders to run away (biggest margin of eight points). In the second half, the home team took advantage of Texas Tech’s problems with fouls, and recovered from behind, going ahead two times by four points. In the final minutes of the game, the Red Raiders came back to their usual defense, forced the Gamecocks to a 4-minute drought, and won the game.
Like often happened in recent games, Keenan Evans was the soul of the team, as he scored 31 points and made several clutch shots, but was helped by freshman Zhaire Smith, who had 11 points, seven rebounds, and many spectacular plays.
You can see them all here below.