Davide Moretti scored a career-high 21 points and Jarrett Culver added four 3-pointers to help lead No. 14 Texas Tech to a 67-64 SEC/Big 12 Challenge win over Arkansas on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena. The win helped the Big 12 to a 6-4 win in the challenge and snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Red Raiders (16-4) have now won 47 straight non-conference home games, are 40-39 in their all-time series with the Razorbacks (11-8) that started in 1942 and improved to 12-1 in non-conference play this season. TTU trailed at halftime for the ninth time this season, but responded with its seventh win in that situation after limiting turnovers in the second half and shooting 10-for-19 on 3-pointers and 51.2 percent overall in the game.
Texas Tech had its largest lead of the game at 12 when Norense Odiase pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on a dunk with eight minutes remaining before Arkansas started chipping at the lead. The Razorbacks had it down to four with 4:10 to play on a Mason Jones layup and it was at three with Daniel Gafford making another layup with 1:34 on the clock. A free throw by Embery-Simpson cut it to two before Culver made one free throw on the offensive side of the court and then a steal with six seconds remaining on defense. Moretti would hit a pair of free throws with five seconds on the clock to push the lead to five in a game that ended with a three-point margin after a Harris layup as time expired for the Razorbacks. Moretti finished the game 6-for-7 from the free-throw line, while the Red Raiders were 13-for-19 as a team from the line.
Texas Tech will return to action against TCU at 8 p.m. on Monday at the USA in the ESPN Big Monday matchup. The Red Raiders are 2-1 at home in conference game this season, while the Horned Frogs (15-4) is coming off a 55-50 win over Florida in their SEC/Big 12 Challenge.