MANHATTAN, Kan. — In a tightly contested matchup on Tuesday night, Darrion Williams led Texas Tech with 16 points, while Elijah Hawkins contributed 14 points and nine assists, as the Red Raiders claimed a 61-57 victory over Kansas State. The Texas Tech team exhibited strong defensive play, managing to keep Kansas State scoreless for the last 5 minutes of the game.
With this victory, Texas Tech improved its record to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12 conference. This comes on the heels of a narrow overtime loss against No. 3 Iowa State, but the Red Raiders have now won three of their last four games, showing resilience after some earlier setbacks.
Kansas State, on the other hand, has been struggling recently, falling to 7-9 on the season and 1-4 in the conference after suffering their fourth consecutive loss. Key contributors to the Wildcats’ performance included Brendan Hausen with 13 points, Coleman Hawkins with 12 points, and David N’Guessan adding 11 points. Max Jones rounded out their scoring with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The game saw a pivotal moment at the 5:50 mark when Coleman Hawkins made a jumper to tie the game at 57-57. However, Elijah Hawkins quickly responded with a basket just 22 seconds later. Kansas State then faced difficulties, failing to score in the final stretch of the game, going 0 for 8 from the field and turning the ball over twice. Texas Tech struggled as well, missing four shots and committing four turnovers, before Williams sealed the game with a layup with 17 seconds left on the clock.
Notably, a significant 13-0 run by Texas Tech changed the course of the match. During this burst, Federiko Federiko completed a three-point play, followed by Elijah Hawkins sinking a 3-pointer. Christian Anderson added a layup and an and-1, then Anderson completed the break with another layup, capped off by a dunk from Federiko, which gave Texas Tech a 51-44 lead less than eight minutes into the second half.
In response, Coleman Hawkins scored the next eight points for Kansas State, including two back-to-back 3-pointers, before David Castillo’s layup briefly restored the Wildcats’ lead at 54-53 with just over nine minutes to go.
Looking ahead, Texas Tech will return to their home court to take on Arizona this Saturday, while Kansas State will head onto the road to face No. 9 Kansas and then travel to meet No. 25 Baylor on January 22.
