PROVO, UT – Elijah Hawkins scored a season-high 22 points, including a career-best six 3-pointers, and Darrion Williams added 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists to lead Texas Tech to a 72-67 road victory over BYU on Tuesday at the Marriott Center.
"Our team stayed the course and controlled tempo," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "We came up with timely plays. It starts with Elijah Hawkins, Darrion Williams, and Chance McMillian. Those guys just hung in there. Chance broke the game open with a couple 3s. Our ability to limit BYU's 3-point makes and beating them on the glass is what I thought was the difference in the game. It was a tremendous college basketball game in a remarkable environment."
The Red Raiders (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) left Utah with two road wins after also defeating Utah by 28 points in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Against BYU (10-4, 1-2 Big 12), Tech trailed 34-32 at halftime and by six points with eight minutes remaining. Hawkins hit a crucial 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two, and McMillian followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to take the lead. In a game featuring 15 lead changes and 10 ties, Tech held the lead after McMillian’s second 3-pointer, which made it 57-55 with 6:42 left. McMillian finished with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while the team collectively shot 10-for-28 from beyond the arc and out-rebounded BYU 39-36.
"I just stayed confident throughout the game," said McMillian, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. "We showed mental toughness to win 50/50 balls and stayed together. Made winning plays."
Hawkins, who also had five assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes, delivered 13 of his 22 points in the second half, going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and 4-for-6 overall. Williams contributed with clutch plays down the stretch, including a contested basket to extend the lead to 65-58, an assist to McMillian for a cutting layup, and another key shot with 46.2 seconds remaining to secure the win.
"My teammates and coaches gave me confidence," Hawkins said. "They tell me all the time to stay confident and take the shots they give me. Everyone thinks I'm a pass-first point guard. Everyone on our team knows what I can do, though. I just put that on display."
"We built as the game went on and got tougher," McCasland said. "To me, it's just a mindset our guys are believing in. When we got down, I saw a different look in his (Williams) eyes defensively. He's a guy we're always going to play through."
Texas Tech shot 44.8% from the field and made 10 or more 3-pointers for the ninth time this season. Federiko Federiko grabbed seven rebounds and scored four points, while Kevin Overton added five points and four rebounds.
BYU was limited to 5-for-23 shooting from 3-point range and struggled at the free-throw line, going 12-for-21. Egor Demin led the Cougars with 12 points and six assists, and Foussseyni Traore added 14 points and five rebounds.
The Red Raiders return to Lubbock to host No. 3 Iowa State (13-1, 3-0 Big 12) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena. Texas Tech is 8-1 at home this season, while Iowa State rides a 10-game winning streak into the matchup.
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