Texas Tech trailed by 20 at halftime against No. 11 Kansas and could never get a comeback going as the No. 16 Red Raiders took a 79-63 loss at the midpoint of their Big 12 Conference schedule on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Red Raiders were never able to cut the 20-point halftime deficit against KU lower than when Moretti hit a 3-pointer to make it 59-46 with 11 minutes to play before the Jayhawks went on a 7-2 run and led 66-48 with eight minutes on the clock. The Red Raiders were 0-for-2 on 3-pointers, while KU was 3-for-3 from the field with one 3-pointer during the run that took it from a 13-point hole back to 18. Texas Tech finished the game with a 42-39 advantage on the boards but could never overcome the 3-point shooting of the Jayhawks. Tech also was 13 of 22 at the free-throw line (59.1 percent) in the game where they were 34.4 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Texas Tech will return to action on ESPN’s Big Monday against West Virginia at 8 p.m. at the United Supermarkets Arena. The Red Raiders earned a 62-59 win over the Mountaineers on Jan. 2 in Morgantown, West Virginia in their Big 12 opener with Culver leading the team with 18 points and six rebounds, while Mooney added 14 and Moretti had 12 in the first-ever win for Tech at WVU. It is the second straight week where TTU will host ESPN Big Monday after not appearing on that national platform since 2006 before last week’s win over TCU.  West Virginia (10-12, 2-7 Big 12) is coming off a 79-71 win over Oklahoma on Saturday that snapped a three-game losing streak.