The Texas Tech men's basketball team's run to a Great Alaska Shootout Championship fell short against No. 23 Butler Saturday.
Prior to competing against the Bulldogs in Saturday's championship game, the Red Raiders claimed wins over Alaska-Anchorage and No. 14 Gonzaga. Tech's 74-47 win over Alaska-Anchorage is the Red Raiders' largest margin of victory this season.
The Red Raiders saw contributions from younger players on the team in freshman guard John Roberson and freshman forward Mike Singletary. Roberson led the team against the Sea Wolves with 22 points, while Singletary claimed 15 points of his own while grabbing six rebounds.
Tech continued its strong play on defense as no Sea Wolf reached double digits in points.
The Red Raiders also forced four turnovers in the first four minutes of their match-up against Alaska-Anchorage, and Tech guard Alan Voskuil finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds.
Despite the loss, Alaska-Anchorage's Carl Arts had a career-high 16 rebounds against the Red Raiders.
The Red Raiders' 73-63 win over No. 14 Gonzaga was the first win over a ranked opponent this season. Voskuil scored a career-high 28 points against the Zags.
Gonzaga could not find the basket for the first 6:27 of the second half, allowing the Red Raiders to extend their lead to 48-31.
Tech's bench scored 19 points and added seven rebounds to help the Red Raiders take the win.
Tech freshman guard D'Walyn Roberts claimed 11 of those bench points, and Voskuil's damage was done early as he notched 16 points in the first half.
The Zags leading scorer was Micha Downs, who finished with 15 points. The Red Raiders slowed him down in the second half, holding Downs to three points.
These wins led the Red Raiders to No. 23 Butler.
The Bulldogs finished the Great Alaska Shootout with 47 3-point shots made, 16 of which came in their match-up with the Red Raiders, an 81-71 win for the Bulldogs.
Butler's A.J. Graves shot 75 percent from the 3-point line during the tournament.
Despite Butler's 3-point shooting, Tech found itself within two points at the half.
Roberson finished with 15 points, and Tech guard Martin Zeno led the team with 17 points, a tournament-high for Zeno.
With 12 minutes left in the game, Voskuil's three-point shooting helped the Red Raiders keep pace with the Bulldogs, as Tech trailed 55-50. Yet, the Bulldogs pulled away and cruised to a 81-71 win.
After a second-place finish in the Great Alaska Shootout, the Red Raiders next play TCU at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the United Spirit Arena.
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