College Basketball

Smith scores 25 as Red Raiders beat LSU in Big 12/SEC match (Jan 28, 2017)

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:32 p.m. ET

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AP

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) Zach Smith led Texas Tech with 25 points as the Red Raiders downed the LSU Tigers 77-64 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday.

Aaron Ross and Niem Stevenson each chipped in 15 points for the Red Raiders (15-6). Anthony Livingston totaled 12 points on four 3-pointers.

''We knew coming in it would be a hard fought contest for us here,'' LSU head coach Johnny Jones said. ''(Texas Tech) coach (Chris) Beard has done a tremendous job this year with his basketball team, his program, and has gotten off to a really good start.''

Smith led Texas Tech in rebounds with eight and Justin Gray followed with seven.

Antonio Blakeney led LSU (9-11) with 23 points. Duop Reath scored 12 with 11 rebounds for the double-double, his fourth this season. Wayde Sims contributed 10 points off the bench.

The Red Raiders let it fly from beyond the arc converting on 12 of 23 attempts.

''I kept thinking they were going to go on another run and I didn't feel safe in that game till about a minute left,'' Beard said. ''It goes back to Johnny; he's not going to let his team quit.''

LSU struggled from the 3-point line shooting 9 of 21 by the final buzzer.

The Tigers outmatched Texas Tech in points in the paint for a majority of the game until the Red Raiders took over, 22-20.

Texas Tech committed 10 turnovers to LSU's 12.

''It's hard for me to visualize beating good teams like LSU or Big 12 teams where we have one or two guys show up offensively,'' Beard said. ''We have to have three or four guys show up every night. Tonight we got it done with four people in double-figures.''

BIG PICTURE

LSU: The Tigers will have a challenge ahead of them. Against Texas Tech, LSU exposed its weak perimeter defense. The Tigers made shots late, but still need to find an early spark to win games.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders aided the Big 12 in showing off its power against another Power 5 conference. Texas Tech has a string of games coming up that could go the Red Raiders' way. Their biggest matchup will come against TCU on the road and Kansas at home in the beginning of February.

CAREER-HIGH

Smith's 25 points is a career-high for the forward. His previous mark was 23 points against TCU on Feb. 23, 2016.

PASSING PERFORMANCE

Texas Tech and LSU dished out double-digit assists Saturday afternoon. The Tigers completed 13 assists, which trailed the Red Raiders' 17.

''Coach just always says, `four passes and penetrate,' so I feel like we were playing unselfish and playing good basketball,'' Smith said.

INJURY ALERT

Texas Tech rearranged its starting five because of Keenan Evans being banged up against Baylor on Wednesday. Beard said Evans missed practice the past couple of days and held out the team's leading scorer until he is good to go. Beard said Evans will be day-to-day moving forward.

''He tried, he wanted to play today, but right before tip it was just he wasn't going to be able to play at a level where he was going to be able to help the team,'' Beard said. ''I thought Keenan did a good job on the bench tonight. He was vocal in some of the timeouts and he helped his team tonight even though he didn't play in the game.''

UP NEXT

LSU: The Tigers will return home to face a tough No. 23 South Carolina team.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders will travel to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns in a midweek game on Feb. 1. Texas is currently 8-12 on the year and 2-6 in Big 12 play.

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