LUBBOCK, Texas -- Playing just two days after Kansas escaped their home arena with a one-point victory, the Texas Tech Red Raiders had a built-in excuse to let down versus Baylor.
But Texas Tech shook off its recent late-game bad luck and took down No. 4 Baylor 84-78 on Monday night at the United Supermarkets Arena.
The Red Raiders trailed by as many as nine in the second half but put together a decisive run in the final 10 minutes to grasp the victory.
Texas Tech lost two games last week when both TCU and Kansas hit free throws with less than three seconds left to post one-point victories. However, the Red Raiders surged ahead by 10 in the final minute Monday and made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off Baylor.
"I'm really happy for the players," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. "I never want to coach a team that comes into any game and is not aggressive, not enjoying the game, not having fun. The Kansas game was obviously very disappointing. With only one day of prep, I begged the guys tonight to play the game and live in the precious present. What an opportunity to play one of the best teams in college basketball on your home floor."
Guard Keenan Evans scored 23 to lead Texas Tech (17-9, 5-8 Big 12). Guard Niem Stevenson added 21, and forward Justin Gray had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Forward Terry Maston paced Baylor (22-4, 9-4) with 22 points. Guard Manu Lecomte had 16 points, but left the game for good midway through the second half.
Texas Tech limited Baylor forward Johnathan Motley to 11 points, well below his season average, on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line.
"I think (Motley) was off," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "He's been so consistent this year and he wasn't himself today. Let's credit Texas Tech for causing that."
Lecomte fouled out with 8:28 remaining. He was called for his fourth foul on a screen on the offensive end, then received a technical foul for his fifth that ejected him from the contest.
"It was real big," Drew said about Lecomte fouling out. "We made some mental mistakes that we can't make. Credit Texas Tech for executing and us not doing a good job of executing."
Baylor pushed ahead 48-39 when forward Jo Lual-Acuil made a layup with 15:12 to go.
But the Red Raiders were already putting pressure on Baylor when Lecomte picked up his fourth and fifth fouls on one play.
After the technical, Texas Tech forward Aaron Ross hit a pair of free throws to cut the Bears' lead to one, but the Red Raiders couldn't take the lead on the ensuing possession.
Maston hit a jumper at the other end to extend Baylor's lead back to three, but then Texas Tech erupted for an 11-0 run.
Texas Tech took a 69-61 lead when Ross went down the lane for a layup with 4:59 remaining.
"We just kind of turned it up," Evans said. "We didn't want to lose this one."
The Red Raiders student section stormed the court after the win over the fourth-ranked Bears.
However, the Baylor players seemed to take the loss of simply the cost of going on the road in the Big 12.
"The Big 12 is the best conference in America," Baylor forward Ishmail Wainright said. "Every team from top to bottom is a great team. We just played a great Tech team and they just outplayed us."
Texas Tech started the game on an 11-0 run. Stevenson made a pair of jumpers and Smith capped the surge with a 3-pointer from the right side to stake the Red Raiders to a double-digit lead a little more than three minutes into the game.
Baylor responded with an effective inside-outside game and finished the half shooting 52 percent from the field.
The Bears scored 14 points in the pain in the first half, led by Maston, who posted 12 in the first 20 minutes.
Lecomte hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the half to help Baylor pull into the lead by halftime. Lecomte hit a trey to cap a 7-0 run and give Baylor its first lead of the contest, 29-26, with 3:38 left before the break.
Then Lecomte, who led Baylor with 13 points in the first half, hit a pull-up jumper from near the free-throw line to put the Bears in front 36-32 at the break.
Evans led Texas Tech with 10 in the first half, and Stevenson had nine.
NOTES:
-- Baylor won the first meeting with Texas Tech this season, 65-61 on Jan. 25 in Waco when the Bears made 26 of 28 free throws while the Red Raiders went 9 of 10 from the line.
-- Since losing to Baylor, Texas Tech was 2-3 before Monday, with the three losses coming by a combined six points.
-- Baylor guard Al Freeman, who started the first 22 games of the season and is averaging 9.5 points, missed his third straight game while serving an indefinite suspension for violation of team policy. King McClure again started in Freeman's place, and he scored five points.
