Sports

Texas Tech Easily Beats North Texas 70-43

November 16, 2016 / 5:35 AM CST / CBS Texas

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LUBBOCK (AP) - After shooting 61 percent from the floor in its season opener, Texas Tech's offense was tepid early against North Texas.

On the strength of Zach Smith's double-double (11 points and 11 rebounds) and an advantage in points off turnovers, the Red Raiders defeated the Mean Green 70-43 on Tuesday night.

"I think (Texas Tech coach Chris Beard) has been pushing me all week and all offseason to crash every time," Smith said. "And it worked out for me tonight."

Aaron Ross had 13 points and graduate transfer Anthony Livingston added nine points and seven rebounds for Texas Tech (2-0). The Red Raiders outscored North Texas 24-2 in points off turnovers -- North Texas committed 16 turnovers while Texas Tech had seven.

"Ross has such a diverse game," Beard said. "He can do so many different things. In our zone offense, I'm comfortable with him on the perimeter or inside. Defensively, he can guard four positions. My thing with Ross is, `How good do you want to be?"'

Deckie Johnson led the Mean Green (1-1) with 13 points. A.J. Lawson finished with 10 points and Jeremy Combs added nine points.
"I think they're an NCAA Tournament team," North Texas head coach Tony Benford said of Texas Tech. "I think they're really deep. Well-coached. Balanced. With their depth, they can wear you down. They turned us over a lot early."

The Red Raiders outrebounded North Texas 46-37.

"We couldn't score," Benford said. "You got to score. You got to get stops. At the end of the day, you got to score some points. We didn't score enough of them early on."

BIG PICTURE
North Texas: The Mean Green did not lead Tuesday and fell to 1-7 all-time against Texas Tech. They have one more Power Five conference opponent this season when they visit Rutgers on Nov. 23.

Texas Tech: Under first year head coach Chris Beard, the Red Raiders count versatility and depth among their strengths. Five Texas Tech players are first-year transfers, three of which are graduate students. Against North Texas, 10 players scored.

"Doing repetitions on certain plays or certain transition plays," Texas Tech's Justin Gray said. "I think every game and every single practice that we've had, our chemistry has gotten a lot stronger."

BACK TO LUBBOCK
Benford was a four-year letter winner for the Red Raiders from 1983-86. Benford was a part of Texas Tech's 1986 Southwest Conference title team and earned tournament MVP honors.

"As a young coach, (Benford) went out of his way to be nice to me in my career," Beard said. "I think he might have been an assistant at New Mexico when I was a young junior college coach. He's just a first class guy. Red Raiders support Red Raiders."

STAT OF THE NIGHT
Texas Tech outscored North Texas in the paint 36-16.

UP NEXT
North Texas returns home to host Drexel on Saturday. The Mean Green face teams from five states this month: Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

Texas Tech has one more game -- Saturday at home against Eastern Kentucky -- before traveling to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. At the tournament, it will face Auburn and then Purdue or Utah State.

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