By SCHUYLER DIXON, AP News.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 15 points in his return from an ankle injury and No. 17 Texas Tech beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 77-57 on Saturday for coach Chris Beard’s 100th victory with the Red Raiders.
Freshman Micah Peavy and graduate transfer Marcus Santos-Silva scored 12 points apiece for the Red Raiders (6-1), who never trailed after finding themselves behind with eight minutes to go before avoiding a major upset in their previous game against Abilene Christian.
The game at the home of the Dallas Mavericks’ G League team was the second neutral-site meeting in the Dallas area in two weeks for the Red Raiders. They lost to No. 7 Houston 64-53 in a Top 25 matchup in Fort Worth. It was Texas Tech’s final tune-up before its Big 12 opener against No. 5 Kansas on Thursday.
Beard is 100-45 in his fifth season with Texas Tech, which made the school’s first trip to the national championship game in the most recent NCAA Tournament in 2019. Virginia won the title in overtime. Beard, who was an assistant under Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight for the Red Raiders more than a decade ago, also led them to the Elite Eight in 2018.
Nolan Bertain scored 12 points and Simeon Fryer added 10 for the Islanders (1-5), who lost their fifth straight since winning their opener against Texas A&M International.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi committed turnovers on its first four possessions and had another seven in a row later in the first half to fuel an 11-0 run for Texas Tech after the Islanders had closed to 16-11. A&M-Corpus Christi finished with 20 turnovers.
The Red Raiders, sixth nationally in scoring defense coming in, also forced two shot-clock violations early in the first half, and they have held opponents under 60 points in all six victories.
Shannon, a sophomore who injured an ankle against Grambling State and missed the ACU game, had seven rebounds while making five of six free throws. Kyler Edwards scored all nine of his points in the first half.
BIG PICTURE
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: The Islanders lost for the fifth time in six games in the series in the first meeting since 2011. The victory was in 2000-01, before the school joined Division I. It won’t be the last Power Five test this month. A&M-Corpus Christi is set to play at No. 13 Texas on Dec. 29. The Islanders have never beaten a Top 25 team.
Texas Tech: McClung, the team’s leading scorer, had a third consecutive rough game offensively, scoring five points on 2-of-10 shooting. But the Georgetown transfer had a hand in getting the Red Raiders going in the first half.
After a nifty spin move, McClung made a no-look pass to Marcus Santos-Silva for an assist, and later tracked down a loose ball on a turnover, flipping the ball blindly over his head down the floor from behind midcourt to set up an easy layup for Peavy. McClung finished with a season-high six assists to go along with four rebounds and three steals.
UP NEXT
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: At Texas State on Tuesday.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders get the Jayhawks at home Thursday before traveling to Oklahoma on Dec. 22.
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