Texas Tech zips past Vanderbilt

Pop Isaacs scored 19 points and keyed a crucial surge early in the second half that helped carry Texas Tech to a 76-54 victory over struggling Vanderbilt on Saturday in the USLBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Red Raiders (8-2) led by 14 points in the first half and had their lead pared to eight at halftime before seeing it cut to just four when they went scoreless over the opening two-plus minutes of the second half. But a 7-0 surge quickly re-established Texas Tech's cushion, and the Commodores never seriously challenged again as the advantage grew to as many as 24 points in the final minutes.

Chance McMillian added 14 points for the Red Raiders, with Kerwin Walton and Joe Toussaint scoring 12 apiece. Texas Tech allowed the Commodores to shoot just 35.6 percent from the floor while forging a 40-29 edge on the glass.

Ven-Allen Lubin finished with 15 points to lead Vanderbilt (4-6) and was the only Commodores player to score in double figures. Vanderbilt has dropped two straight games and five of its past six despite not playing any ranked teams this season.

The Red Raiders stormed to the lead, scoring the game's first nine points and building a 25-11 advantage when Darrion Williams hit a layup at the 7:08 mark of the first half. A 5-0 run by Vanderbilt later got its deficit under double digits, and the Commodores were within 29-21 when Isaiah West canned a 3-pointer with 3:34 to play before halftime.

Vanderbilt whittled the margin to six points on Ezra Manjon's layup with 1:26 to play before Texas Tech's Warren Washington dunked with 1:01 remaining to stake the Red Raiders to a 33-25 lead at the break.

Isaacs led all scorers with 11 points before halftime while Washington had nine points and five rebounds. No Commodores player scored more than the five points, tallied by both Lubin and Evan Taylor in the first half.

Vanderbilt began the second half with two baskets from Lubin to cut the Texas Tech lead to four points. The Red Raiders responded with a 7-0 run over a span of 1:06 to rebuild a double-digit advantage at 40-29. A pair of Isaacs free throws with 10:06 remaining in the game expanded the Tech lead to 14 points.

—Field Level Media