Kevin Obanor, De'Vion Harmon, Pop Isaacs lead Texas Tech to win over Eastern Washington

When things looked awry for the offense Tuesday night, Texas Tech men's basketball coach Mark Adams made a crucial adjustment at halftime against Eastern Washington.

The second-year leader of the Red Raiders implored his players to start playing inside-out — passing the ball into the post and seeing how the Eagles reacted on defense.

Kevin Obanor was the benefactor.

Obanor, a senior forward, finished with a double-double of a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds, while De'Vion Harmon chipped in 19 points and a career-best six steals, to help Texas Tech down Eastern Washington 77-70 on Tuesday inside United Supermarkets Arena.

"I mean, we knew we had a mismatch down in the post," said Obanor, who tallied his sixth double-double of the season and scored 16 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest. "Thankful for the coaching staff to realize it. ... Good awareness from the coaching staff and the players for even trusting me to put me in a position to get the ball down there."

The inside-out play was the offseason vision Adams and the coaching staff had for the Red Raiders, which touted a trio of talented bigs highlighted by Obanor and aided by returner Daniel Batcho and Utah Valley transfer Fardaws Aimaq.

But things changed as Aimaq suffered a broken foot in the offseason, which has forced him to miss a majority of the season and Batcho was unable to play Tuesday due to a left foot injury. Batcho, who donned a walking boot like Aimaq, twisted his ankle in the waning moments of the win over Nicholls last week.

Compounding the issue, Aimaq reportedly entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday per a report from Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Aimaq, who was a two-time WAC Defensive Player of the Year, netted 18.9 points and 13.6 rebounds per game last season for Utah Valley before entering the portal. He was courted by Arkansas, Houston, Texas Tech and Houston before choosing the Red Raiders.

His reported decision to transfer for the second time means the Red Raiders will need to rely heavily on the duo of Obanor and Batcho to help the young squad continue its upward trend of development heading into Big 12 Conference play.

On Tuesday night, Texas Tech did its best to establish a presence in the paint or dominate the rebounding battle in the contest. This also meant Eastern Washington found opportunities to not only score inside, but also find open shooters behind the 3-point line.

In the first half, the Eagles made 6-of-15 shots from three-point line before going into their locker room tied with the Red Raiders at 29-29.

The game shifted, a bit, as Obanor asserted himself in the post, using both blocks and certain angles to ensure an easy bucket under the basket.

"Part of that, again, is that he's open a lot," Adams said of Obanor and playing inside-out. "He's trying to get the guys to see it on film. The strength of this team is trying to get the ball to the paint to KO and Daniel Batcho both. And I think with Fardaws when he gets back.

"It's an emphasis to really work the feed into the post. ... I thought we ran some good plays that got us the ball down there and a couple of them were big plays that made a difference in the game."

Several other game-changing plays occurred on the defensive end as Lamar Washington, the freshman guard, notched a steal and a dunk to provide Texas Tech with a 40-38 and 52-45 advantage in the second half.

The 6-foot-4 athlete has become more aggressive on defense after becoming more familiar with the no-middle, side scheme implemented by the Red Raiders. Hamon also thrived, securing six steals which he felt set a tone throughout the contest all the way to final buzzer.

"I mean, I'm just bringing toughness," Harmon said. "I know what I'm capable of. ... If I can set that defensive tone for the guys, and that's what I want to do. Defense wins games."

With the victory, the Red Raiders (7-2) increased their home winning streak to 27 games by downing the Eagles (4-6) who battled toward the end of the contest.

Richard "Pop" Isaacs scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half to round out the double-digit scorers for the Red Raiders.

Steele Venters finished with 26 points, going 5-for-10 from the three-point line, to lead EWU on offense. Angelo Allegri (14 points) and Ethan Price (11 points) aided the Eagles, who finished 11-for-28 from the three-point line.

"Good win, got to give credit to Eastern Washington," Obanor said. "They're a really good team. Very long team. ... It was a lot closer than we wanted it to be.

"It's just the journey. We've got a group of new guys and it starts with me. We've just got to be better, but it was a tough win. Still happy for the guys."

Next up: Texas Tech is scheduled to take on Jackson State in a 2:45 p.m. Saturday neutral-site game as part of the HBCU Roundball Classic held at Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston.

Quick hits

• On Wednesday, Texas Tech center Fardaws Aimaq is reportedly entering his name in the transfer portal. The 6-foot-10 post is also expected to have immediate eligibility, according to Stockrisers.com’s Jake Weingarten.

• Kevin Obanor notched a double-double, the 36th of his career, on Tuesday.

• KJ Allen tallied a season-best seven rebounds.

• Lamar Washington notched four assists, the fourth time the freshman has dished out four or more in a game this season. His season high was five against Nicholls.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Kevin Obanor double-double powers Tech to win over EWU; Fardaws Aimaq reportedly transferring