Davide Moretti scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, leading Texas Tech to a 69-62 win over struggling Kansas State on Wednesday night in Lubbock, Texas.
Jahmi'us Ramsey added 17 points and Kyler Edwards 14 for Texas Tech (17-9, 8-5 Big 12), which has won four of five to stay in third place in the Big 12.
Xavier Sneed's 15 points led Kansas State (9-17, 2-11), which lost its sixth straight game. Antonio Gordon had 14 points and eight rebounds.
The turning point in the game came with 9:53 to play and the Red Raiders ahead by just two. Kansas State's Cartier Diarra stole the ball and went the other way uncontested for a dunk, but his windmill jam attempt missed off the back of the rim.
That kept the Wildcats from tying the game, and Moretti hit a 3-pointe at the other end seconds later for a five-point Texas Tech lead.
Kansas State never got closer, and Moretti's trey with 1:37 to play made it 64-51 and put the game well out of reach for the Wildcats.
Moretti's layup with 18:11 to play in the second half put Texas Tech up 37-29. The Wildcats scored the next seven points.
Texas Tech led 7-1 early before the Wildcats went on a 9-1 run, capped by a steal and transition two-handed dunk by Diarra with 13:15 to go in the first half.
Officials stopped the game at the 9:17 mark for a few minutes to change out a loose net at one of the baskets on the court, after Texas Tech had taken a 22-12 lead.
Edwards scored nine first-half points for the Red Raiders.
Diarra's crossover and short jumper cut the Red Raiders' lead to 28-23, and the Wildcats whittled an 11-point deficit to 30-27 entering halftime after Gordon's reverse layup just before the first-half buzzer.
--Field Level Media
Kansas State | Texas Tech | |
Xavier Sneed 15 | Scoring | Davide Moretti 18 |
Cartier Diarra 2 | Assists | Kyler Edwards 4 |
Antonio Gordon 8 | Rebounds | Kevin McCullar 6 |
Cartier Diarra 4 | Free Throws Made | Jahmi'us Ramsey 5 |
Cartier Diarra 4 | Steals | Kevin McCullar 4 |
N/A | Blocks | TJ Holyfield 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Kansas State | 62 | 47.9 | 4-17 | 12-19 | 9 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 16 |
Texas Tech | 69 | 50.0 | 8-21 | 15-17 | 18 | 26 | 3 | 10 | 18 |