College Basketball

Livingston, Smith lead Texas Tech past Utah State 75-51

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:38 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) Anthony Livingston had 28 points and nine rebounds, Zach Smith scored 21 points and Texas Tech recovered from a poor start to rout Utah State 75-51 Wednesday night in a consolation game of the Cancun Challenge.

Livingston hit 5 of 9 3-pointers and Smith had four dunks on his way to hitting 9 of 10 shots for the Red Raiders (4-1), who took third place in the Riviera Division.

Jalen Moore scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half for the Aggies (3-2), who raced to a 24-12 lead before fading in their second straight loss.

Smith started the second half with an alley-oop dunk to tie it and then had two driving dunks midway through the second half as Texas Tech took the lead for good. Livingston later hit three consecutive 3s.

Moore started 3 of 4 from 3-point range before getting into first-half foul trouble.

BIG PICTURE

Utah State: Moore, a preseason all-Mountain West Conference selection, is clearly the go-to scorer and leader for Utah State. The Aggies collapsed offensively late in the first half without the senior on the floor and need to find other consistent options before conference play begins. Moore was also on the bench at the start of Texas Tech's game-clinching 19-6 second-half run.

Texas Tech: Poor starts and scoring droughts have to be concerning coach Chris Beard ahead of the SEC schedule. After a 12-minute dry spell Tuesday helped them fall behind by 19 points to Auburn in the semifinals, the Red Raiders went 8:14 without a hoop in the first half against Utah State. It took quite a while to adjust to Utah State's zone, cut down on the poor passes and get better shots.

UP NEXT

Utah State: Will play in-state rival BYU next Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Texas Tech: Plays its next five games at home, starting Friday against Idaho State. The Red Raiders' next road game is Dec. 17 at Richmond.

share

Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Basketball