Texas Tech stormed out to a 49-13 halftime lead and cruised past the University of Maine men’s basketball team 83-44 in a regional-round game of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tournament at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday night.
“Just a relentless attack from Texas Tech,” said UMaine head coach Bob Walsh after the game. “I love the way they play. It’s a credit to (Texas Tech coach) Chris (Beard) and their kids. They come at you in waves, and they attack.
“It was everything I was worried about coming into the game. Their intensity, their pressure, their athleticism and their size was just going to take us out of who we are. That’s exactly what they did. They got us on our heels.”
Texas Tech (2-0) scored the game’s first 11 points, then followed a 3-pointer by UMaine guard Aaron Calixte with 12 unanswered points to build its advantage to 23-3.
UMaine doubled its shooting percentage from the first half to the second half and outrebounded the Red Raiders 19-15 over the game’s final 20 minutes. Texas Tech outscored Maine just 34-31 after intermission.
UMaine shot just 24.6 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line for the game compared to 50.9 percent from the field overall and 55.6 from 3-point territory for Texas Tech.
Keenan Evans led four Texas Tech scorers in double figures with 12 points.
Ilija Stojiljkovic led UMaine in scoring and rebounding for the second straight game, totaling eight points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field and grabbing five boards.
Andrew Fleming also scored eight points for the Black Bears while Dusan Majstorivic and Ilker Er added seven points apiece.
UMaine returns to action Friday against South Alabama in the first game of the Springfield Bracket portion of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. The opening tip is set for 5 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.