KANSAS CITY, Mo. – L.J. Cryer hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points as top-ranked Houston, playing most of the way without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, used a big second half to rout No. 25 Texas Tech 82-59 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Roberts played only a few minutes in each half after hurting his right leg, but the rest of the short-handed Cougars covered for him. Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points and conference player of the year Jamal Shead had 12, helping Houston (30-3) outscore its old Southwest Conference rival 50-30 in the second half to reach the title game in its first year in its new conference.
The Cougars will play seventh-ranked Iowa State or No. 14 Baylor for the Big 12 Tournament championship Saturday night.
Chance McMillian scored 15 points and Joe Toussaint had 10 for Texas Tech (23-10), which closed to 40-38 with 16 1/2 minutes to go before Houston ripped off a 17-0 run over the next five minutes to turn a close game into a laugher.
Pop Isaacs, the Red Raiders’ leading scorer, was held to six points on 2-for-13 shooting.
Houston won the regular-season Big 12 title and has spent the past three weeks atop the AP Top 25 despite a wave of injuries — even before Roberts was hurt — that crippled the front line Kelvin Sampson expected to have this season.
Terrance Arceneaux was the first to go down with a torn Achilles tendon in December. Ramon Walker Jr. tore the meniscus in a knee in February, and Joseph Tugler broke a bone in a foot about a week later to end his season.
The Cougars compensated for Roberts’ injury by cinching up their defense, forcing Texas Tech into several shot-clock violations.
The Red Raiders, who started 4 of 21 from the field, briefly found their stride late in the first half. McMillian came off the bench to hit a pair of 3s and score 10 points, and Texas Tech used a 17-5 run to close to 32-29 at the break.
But Houston got an emotional boost, if nothing else, when Roberts limped onto the floor for the second half. And while he only played a few minutes before icing his leg on the bench again, his return coincided with the Cougars’ decisive run.
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Texas Tech had won four straight before Friday night, giving it some momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Houston’s first loss came to Iowa State on Jan. 9, though the Cougars got some revenge at home last month. They beat Baylor in their only meeting a few weeks ago when Cryer had a big night against his former team.
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