Richard "Pop" Isaacs helps Texas Tech fend off Georgetown in Big 12-BIG EAST Battle
Richard "Pop" Isaacs continues to meet expectations, and even exceed.
But, not without the growing pains that provided more learning lessons.
On Wednesday, Isaacs continued his ascent as part of a burgeoning career by scoring four of his 10 total points in the second half — while Kevin Obanor (11 points, seven rebounds) supplied just enough offense, including a quartet of free throws — aiding Texas Tech as it routed Georgetown 79-65 inside United Supermarkets Arena.
“I believe in all of my teammates,” said Texas Tech guard Jaylon Tyson, who finished with a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds and three steals. “I believe in Pop. I believe in everybody from the top to the bottom. I knew he (Richard ”Pop” Isaacs) was going to hit the shot. I knew somebody was gonna get us going. We just have to believe in ourselves. I mean we've been together for months now. I believe in everybody."
More so, the Red Raiders (5-2) protected home court and bounced back ensuring their head coach Mark Adams has not suffered back-to-back losses during his two-year tenure.
Much of the help in the first half can be attributed to Daniel Batcho, who secured his second double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.
The final result did not show the dominance displayed by Texas Tech, which built up a 23-point (56-33) advantage in the second half before watching it evaporate due to careless mistakes and an inability to execute on offense and defense.
Bradley Ezewiro split a pair of free throws, which cut Georgetown's scoring gap to one point (66-61) with 5:45 left in the contest.
Isaacs took an inbound pass, dribbled into the paint and dropped a floated in to snap a six-minute scoring drought. Isaacs also provided an assist, off a pick-and-roll, that led to a wide-open Batcho dunk to increase Texas Tech's scoring cushion to 66-61 with 3:24 to play.
Obanor, a senior, made four free throws to help TTU build its lead to create a 70-61 cushion and come away with the victory — that came close to a loss.
“We had to win the game twice,” Adams said. “Home court gives them a lot of confidence. Give our fans a lot of credit. The game got really tight and they didn’t give up on us and started cheering and I think it really lifted our guys’ spirits and gave a little more confidence. I’m sure it’s had an adverse effect on our opponents, so a lot of credit to our fans and playing at home certainly makes a big difference.”
The Hoyas did their best to keep the Red Raiders off-kilter early by slowing the tempo, which allowed Georgetown to keep the score within striking distance all the to a 20-20 tie at the 8:42 mark of the first half.
Until the Hoyas cracked and the Red Raiders took advantage.
Texas Tech started out on a 4-0 run, which developed into a 21-6 offensive surge to close out the first half.
That resulted in, despite enduring a shot clock violation in its final offensive possession, the Red Raiders taking a 41-26 advantage into the locker room.
Tyson started the final 20 minutes off strong by draining back-to-back treys, building Texas Tech's lead to 21 points (47-26) to force Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing to call timeout.
The Hoyas (4-4) sliced their deficit to one point before suffering their first true road loss of the season.
Brandon Murray and Bryson Mozone scored 18 points apiece to lead Georgetown on offense.
“With new teams, young teams, adversity sets in it takes a team awhile to recover,” Adams said. “We’ve got to recover quicker. But even looking at the positive side is we’re up 20, 20-something points, and we really had to win the game twice, but we came back and really had to win the game twice, but we came back through that adversity and fought through it and made some free throws and plays. I was really proud of the way it ended. The guys really hung in there and, you know, kept their composure when it counted.”
What's next: Texas Tech is slated to host Nicholls at 7 p.m. Dec. 7. Georgetown is scheduled to host South Carolina at noon Saturday.
Quick hits
— De’Vion Harmon finished with 18 points to help him eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career.
— With Wednesday’s victory, Texas Tech secured its first win in the Big 12-BIG EAST Battle in three tries.
TEXAS TECH 79, GEORGETOWN 65
GEORGETOWN (4-4)
Akok 0-4 0-0 0, Wahab 0-4 0-0 0, Heath 2-8 0-0 5, Murray 8-13 0-0 18, Spears 5-12 3-4 13, Mozone 7-10 0-0 18, Ezewiro 1-2 3-5 5, Bristol 1-2 0-0 3, Anglin 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 25-56 6-9 65.
TEXAS TECH (5-2)
Batcho 7-9 0-0 15, Obanor 3-7 5-6 11, Harmon 6-14 5-6 18, Isaacs 4-12 0-0 10, Tyson 7-10 0-0 18, D.Williams 2-4 2-2 6, Jennings 0-0 0-0 0, Fisher 0-0 1-2 1, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Washington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 13-16 79.
Halftime_Texas Tech 41-26. 3-Point Goals_Georgetown 9-26 (Mozone 4-7, Murray 2-6, Anglin 1-1, Bristol 1-2, Heath 1-4, Akok 0-3, Spears 0-3), Texas Tech 8-19 (Tyson 4-5, Isaacs 2-5, Batcho 1-1, Harmon 1-4, Walton 0-1, D.Williams 0-1, Obanor 0-2). Fouled Out_Murray, Spears. Rebounds_Georgetown 22 (Akok 6), Texas Tech 35 (Batcho 13). Assists_Georgetown 11 (Spears 7), Texas Tech 11 (Isaacs 4). Total Fouls_Georgetown 17, Texas Tech 10. A_14,649 (15,098).
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Richard "Pop" Isaacs helps Texas Tech fend off Georgetown in Big 12-BIG EAST Battle
