Wright's heroics rally BYU past No. 10 Texas Tech to snap 3-game slide

PROVO — Robert Wright III wasn't one of the four seniors honored in BYU's regular-season finale Saturday night.

But if it was his final time playing in the Marriott Center — and in an era of the transfer portal that opens up and NBA-like free agency every offseason, you can never count that out — then the former All-Big 12 freshman at Baylor was going to make it memorable.

How about a top-10 victory, for good measure?

Wright scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half to go with six rebounds and two assists; and Kennard Davis Jr. drained the final go-ahead 3-pointer with 1 minuted, 34 seconds remaining as BYU snapped a three-game losing skid with a 82-76 win over No. 10 Texas Tech in front of a sold-out crowd at the Marriott Center.

AJ Dybantsa added 21 points, six rebounds and four assists in what most assume to be the future NBA draft lottery pick's final game in Provo, and Davis finished with 16 points for the Cougars (21-10, 9-9 Big 12).

Christian Anderson poured in 23 points, four rebounds and nine assists for Texas Tech; and Donovan Atwell added 23 points and six rebounds for the Red Raiders (22-9, 12-6 Big 12).

Jaylen Petty scored 14 points for Texas Tech, which made 16 3-pointers — but just 4-of-16 in the second half.

That's when Wright to work, converting 7-of-10 field goals and all nine of his free-throw attempts as BYU rallied from as much as a 13-point deficit in the first half to help the Cougars to their first win over Texas Tech since Dec. 17, 1993.

"Coach has been putting a lot of trust in me, and telling me to just be aggressive," Wright said. "I think I was just picking my spots good and getting to the right spots."

The win marks Wright's fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points, the highest scoring output since he dropped a career-high 39 in a 99-94 win over Baylor back on Feb. 10, and his best shooting percentage since he knocked down 6-of-9 Feb. 7 against Houston.

But as far as his personal ranking of the game, the night stood alone.

"I think that one might be No. 1 now," he said with a grin.

He wasn't alone.

The Cougars gave up 16 3-pointers but just four after halftime, out rebounded the Red Raiders 41-34, and poured in 48 points in the paint to the visitors' 14.

That's in large part by Keba Keita, the senior from Mali by way of Wasatch Academy and the University of Utah who celebrated his final regular-season home game in the Marriott Center with a win.

The 6-foot-8 forward who spent the past two seasons in Provo pulled down 11 rebounds to go with 9 points and a block, including six offensive boards that helped BYU to 20 second-chance points.

Perhaps most important was his defense, using his length to frighten Texas Tech into a double-digit turnaround.

"Their switchability really caused us problems," Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said. "I thought Keita was tremendous; he was great. His ability on the offensive rebounds, and what they did as a team on the glass was the difference."

With little to play for in the Big 12 Tournament beyond pride and a sendoff for four seniors, including injured star Richie Saunders, Texas Tech opened the regular-season finale with more of it.

Anderson dropped in five 3-pointers and six assists in the first half, and the Red Raiders shot 12-of-19 from deep to lead by as much as 13 before the break.

After a short run from BYU, Atwell hit Texas Tech's eighth triple out of a media timeout, and Anderson added another of the Red Raiders' 12 first-half 3-pointers to stretch the lead back to 37-27 en route to a 46-38 halftime advantage.

Davis had 13 points, including three of BYU's five 3-pointers before the break; and Dybantsa added 10 points, three rebounds and two assists on 4-of-14 shooting for the Cougars before halftime.

BYU didn't commit a turnover until Josiah Moseley's steal with 15:52 remaining, and Wright capped a 13-6 run out of halftime to bring the Cougars all the way back within 52-51 a minute later.

Buoyed by a defense — there's that word that seemed far-too-unfamiliar at times during the recent stretch of three-straight losses, or eight in the past 11 games — that held the Red Raiders to 2-of-6 shooting from the perimeter, Dybantsa converted a 3-point play to give BYU its first lead of the half, 58-57 with 11:23 remaining.

Wright scored 6 straight points, Dybantsa added 4 in a row, and Keita capped a 14-2 run that lifted the Cougars to their largest lead of the game, 74-66, with a 14-2 run with 4:42 remaining.

No. 10-seeded BYU opens the Big 12 tournament Tuesday against 17th-seeded Kansas State (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN+). The winner will play No. 7 West Virginia on Wednesday (5 p.m. MDT, ESPNU).

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