In a good old-fashioned dogfight, Scarlet & Gray survived a game Matadors squad comprised of Texas Tech alumni and advanced to the Super 16 of the TBT with a 82-73 win this afternoon in The Capital Center in Bexley, Ohio.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 SCARLET & GRAY | 18 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 82 |
| #9 MATADORS | 22 | 17 | 22 | 12 | 73 |
Jared Sullinger dominated both ends of the floor posting 28 points and 19 rebounds in a rough and tumble performance.
After a joyous romp in an opening round win over the West Virginia Wildcats, today's game had a much different feel as the 9th-seeded Matadors made it clear from the start they planned to go toe-to-toe with Scarlet & Gray.
Scarlet & Gray trailed at the half but used a 17-7 run to take a 55-58 lead midway through the third quarter. The Matadors would not die however, countering with a 13-5 lead run to take a 61-60 edge through three quarters.
The final quarter saw Scarlet & Gray open on a 9-1 blitz to take a 69-62 lead before the Elam Ending kicked in with the good guys leading 75-70.
From there, Jon Diebler splashed a triple and William Buford hit a step back 17-footer before a David Lighty alley-oop dunk via a Buford pass turned out the lights on the Matadors.
Talk about putting an exclamation point on a big win!!! @ScarletGrayTBT punches their ticket to the Super 16 in Atlanta! #TBT2018 pic.twitter.com/XUMFdbmS48
— TBT (@thetournament) July 22, 2018
Beyond Sullinger's beast-mode performance, Lighty added 15 points with Aaron Craft and Diebler each adding a dozen. Buford shot just 3-of-15 for eight points though he was timely down the stretch.
Chris Cokley paced the Matadors with 20 points and Karl Cochran had 17 while JJ Avila and John Roberson, a teammate of Lighty's overseas, each had 13.
| SCARLET & GRAY | STAT | MATADORS |
|---|---|---|
| 82 | POINTS | 73 |
| 28-62 (45.2%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 25-50 (50.0%) |
| 8-23 (34.8%) | 3FGM-3FGA (PCT.) | 10-16 (62.5%) |
| 18-23 (78.3%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 13-19 (68.4%) |
| 39 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 24 |
| 17 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 5 |
| 22 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 19 |
| 7 | TURNOVERS | 7 |
Scarlet & Gray shot just 34.8% from deep on the day and 45.2% overall but owned the glass 39-24 including a hefty 17-5 edge on the offensive backboards and outscored the Matadors by five at the stripe.
The first quarter saw Scarlet & Gray lacking focus as the Matadors took a 22-18 lead on the strength of 64% shooting thanks mostly to JJ Avila who drained three triples on the way to 13 points. Meanwhile, Scarlet & Gray received a pair of uncharacteristic turnovers from Aaron Craft triggering leak outs the other way but still shot a respectable 7-of-15 from the floor.
The second quarter turned into a physical affair leading to a ton of trips to the line and the Matadors boasting a 27-20 lead midway through before Scarlet & Gray went on a 16-7 run trimming the deficit to 37-36 by way of a free throws and a dust-up between Sullinger and Matador point guard Quincy Diggs leading to his ejection.
Diggs stood over Sullinger following a dead ball rebound and Sullinger got up, into his chest, prompting Diggs to give Sullinger a push punch to the neck.
Jon Diebler would sink both foul shots awarded via the Flagrant 2 assessed to Diggs and the Matadors responded with a pair of free throws for Sullinger's technical foul before Aaron Craft ended the scoring with a jumper cutting the halftime deficit to 39-38.
Scarlet & Gray shot just 32% in the opening half while the Matadors hit on 54% including 5-of-7 from distance. Free throws helped keep Scarlet & Gray close as they hit on 12-of-15 while the Matadors tallied just six points from the stripe.
