McLemore, Kansas cruise past Texas Tech
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ben McLemore made four 3-pointers en route to 24 points and the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks handled the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 91-63, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Rio Adams added 11 points for the Jayhawks (27-5), who are looking for their ninth Big 12 Tournament title. Jeff Withey and Kevin Young each scored nine points for the victors.
Kansas will next take on the fifth-seeded Iowa State Cyclones in Friday's semis. The Jayhawks needed overtime to beat them in both of their regular- season games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I think it's going to be a terrific ballgame," Kansas coach Bill Self said about Friday's matchup with Iowa State. "They're good. They can stretch it from all five spots. It's a hard matchup for us in a lot of ways because it gets Jeff away from the basket defensively, and that's where he's so good is protecting the rim."
Dejan Kravic and Dusty Hannahs ended with 20 and 15 points, respectively, for the Red Raiders (11-20), who were coming off a thrilling victory over West Virginia in the first round on Wednesday. Jordan Tolbert donated 13 points.
"I thought we battled with them on the glass, we just couldn't make enough shots," said Texas Tech coach Chris Walker.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McLemore tallied 12 points during Kansas' 15-2 run to start the game. The Red Raiders, however, responded with the next eight points to cut the gap to five, 15-10.
Tolbert made two free throws and a jumper to pull Texas Tech within two, 27-25, with 3:10 left in the first half. But that proved to be as close as the Red Raiders would get.
Kansas closed out the half on a 7-0 spurt, and Withey scored the final five points for a 34-25 margin.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Jayhawks carried that momentum into the second half by putting together a 10-0 run in the early stages. McLemore bookended the surge with a pair of 3- pointers to make it a 44-27 contest. Kansas cruised to victory from there.
Game Notes
The Jayhawks shot 66 percent from the field, the best mark by any team in a Big 12 Tournament game ... Kansas leads the overall series with Texas Tech by a 25-4 margin. The Jayhawks have won eight straight and nine of the last 10 meetings ... Texas Tech was trying to advance to semifinals of the Big 12 tourney for the first time since 2005.