LUBBOCK, Texas — Davide Moretti had 21 points, Jarrett Culver scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 14 Texas Tech beat Arkansas 67-64 on Saturday night to stop a three-game slide.
Moretti's two free throws with five seconds left sealed the SEC/Big 12 Challenge game for the Red Raiders (16-4) after their double-digit lead was trimmed to two with a minute left. They didn't make another field goal after Norense Odiase's dunk made it 60-48 with 7:41 left.
Arkansas (11-8) was down 65-62 when it turned it over with eight seconds remaining, leading to Moretti's foul shots. Jalen Harris made a layup for the Razorbacks as time expired.
Daniel Gafford led Arkansas with 14 points after missing most of the first half in foul trouble. Harris and Mason Jones had 11 points apiece.
Matt Mooney scored 12 points for the Red Raiders, who shot 51 percent (22 of 43) from the field, including 10 for 19 from 3-point range.
Harris beat the halftime buzzer with a long running 3-pointer, lifting the Razorbacks to a 33-30 lead at the break. Culver tied it up right after halftime with one of his four 3s.
Texas Tech went ahead to stay when Mooney's 3 made it 42-40 with 16:44 left, starting a 13-2 run. Culver's 3-pointer gave Tech a 52-42 lead with 13 minutes left.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas: The Razorbacks whiffed on a chance to build momentum after topping Missouri three days earlier. They were hurt by a 4-for-19 performance from 3-point range.
Texas Tech: Ten days of struggling with three Big 12 losses in a row has been put to rest. Maybe as big as anything else, the Raiders found some offensive alternatives to Culver for the first time in a while. After 15 turnovers before halftime, they had only six in the second half.
UP NEXT
Arkansas will try to win consecutive SEC games for the first time this season at home against Georgia on Tuesday night.
Texas Tech is home Monday night against TCU before going to No. 9 Kansas next Saturday.
EARLIER
Texas Tech 67, Arkansas 64 - Final
Davide Moretti led all scorers with 21 points and Jarrett Culver added 15 as Texas Tech edged Arkansas in Lubbock. The Red Raiders' win gave the Big 12 the win in the inter-conference challenge.
Daniel Gafford led Arkansas with 14 points on 6/6 from the floor, Mason Jones added 11 before fouling out in the final minute and Jalen Harris scored 11 as well.
The Razorbacks battled back from a 12-point second-half deficit to pull within two points with 1:01 to play, but Texas Tech hit 3/4 free throws over the final 32 seconds to seal the win. Arkansas forced the Red Raiders into 21 turnovers, but 15 came in the first half.
Arkansas falls to 11-8 on the season with the loss, and Texas Tech moves to 16-4. The Razorback return to SEC play on Tuesday against Georgia, who beat Texas in Athens earlier today.
We will have more from tonight's game later on WholeHogSports.com.
Texas Tech 65, Arkansas 62 - 6.3 seconds left
Arkansas couldn't get anything working offensively out of the timeout. Keyshawn Embery-Simpson was swung the ball late in the shot clock, Culver tapped the ball away from him and Embery-Simpson was whistled for a kick ball and the Red Raiders have possession.
Texas Tech 65, Arkansas 62 - 31.7 seconds left
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson split two free throws with a minute left after forcing a Texas Tech turnover. Mason Jones then fouled Culver with one second left on the shot clock and fouled out. Looked like he tapped Culver on the elbow just enough to draw a whistle. Tough, tough call.
Culver split the free throws, which seems to be a theme tonight, and Arkansas called for time with 26 seconds to go down three.
Texas Tech 64, Arkansas 59 - 1:48 left
Back-to-back bad possessions for Arkansas offensively. Tech went zone and Jalen Harris took a pair of jumpers and missed both, then Mason Jones forced a long 3 and missed. Gafford split free throws on the ensuing possession. Tariq Owens has fouled out.
Texas Tech 62, Arkansas 58 - 3:49 left
The Razorbacks are giving tremendous effort defensively, and it's turning into opportunistic offense. Arkansas is on a 6-0 run over the last 1:20 of the game and is right back in it after falling behind by as many as 12.
Reggie Chaney kicked off the run with a big tip-in at the rim, Gafford followed with a freakish euro-step type move in the lane and Mason Jones got a layup to go after Arkansas' defense sped Culver into an ill-advised layup in transition.
We've got ourselves a ballgame again. This should be a really interesting final few minutes.
Texas Tech 60, Arkansas 48 - 7:27 left
Razorbacks pulled within six points following a split at the line from Desi Sills and a Gafford dunk, but Texas Tech responded with an 8-2 run to balloon its lead. The run began when Adrio Bailey tried to reverse the ball with a lazy pass and Culver picked it off and dunked it on the other end. Tech's two forwards, not known for scoring, then added buckets around the rim.
Red Raiders are scoring at a 1.364 PPP rate in the second half - 13 scores on 22 possessions. Conversely, Arkansas has eight scores on 22 possessions.
Texas Tech 52, Arkansas 43 - 11:44 left
Daniel Gafford added a free throw between the timeouts. Desi Sills, who hasn't made a 3-pointer since hitting three at Texas A&M in the SEC opener, missed a triple on one of Arkansas' possessions, then drove baseline and drew a foul on the next. He will be at the line when play resumes.
Red Raiders have turned the ball over just once in eight-plus minutes in the second half, and for the game, Texas Tech is shooting 59 percent and 10/17 from 3-point range. Razorbacks have to come up with some timely turnovers sooner rather than later and do something to throw Moretti, Culver and Mooney out of their shooting rhythm.
Texas Tech 52, Arkansas 42 - 12:56 left
Things have gotten a bit out of hand for the Razorbacks over the last four minutes. Red Raiders are on a 13-2 run over the last 3:48 of the game and have scored seven straight in just 1:22.
Texas Tech is 8/11 from the floor and 5/7 from 3-point range since halftime. Culver has buried three 3s, and is now up to 12 points on the night. Davide Moretti has a game-high 17.
Arkansas has five players with at least five points, but no one in double figures. Someone is going to need to step up, knock down some big shots and take control of the offense soon or Tech could begin to pull away.
Texas Tech 42, Arkansas 40 - 15:11 left
Mason Jones has four points, including a 3-pointer, since halftime and Daniel Gafford threw down a dunk in transition off Jones' assist. Arkansas has been resilient tonight offensively with its back against the wall.
In the first half, it was Davide Moretti leading the Red Raiders in scoring with 14. Since halftime, Matt Mooney has seven points on 3/4 shooting to go with a pair of assists. Jarrett Culver opened the second half with a corner 3 to essentially nullify Harris' score before the break.
We've got a great game on our hands tonight. This one has been really interesting since tipoff.
Arkansas 33, Texas Tech 30 - Halftime
After Adrio Bailey forced Jarrett Culver into a really tough jumper in the closing seconds of the first half, Bailey rebounded and found Jalen Harris, who took a few dribbles and hit a very deep 3 at the buzzer to send the Razorbacks into the half ahead by a bucket.
This is Arkansas' first halftime lead since its SEC opener at Texas A&M.
Harris scored a team-high nine points on a team-high nine shots. Bailey has seven big points and Isaiah Joe added five. Daniel Gafford sat the final 10-plus minutes of the first half. Arkansas outscored the Red Raiders by five in his seven minutes on the floor.
Texas Tech was severely plagued by turnovers in the first half. Its 15 miscues resulted in 17 Arkansas points. Jarrett Culver has just three points on 1/4 shooting, four assists and four turnovers. Starting guard Matt Mooney also has four turnovers. Davide Moretti scored a game-high 14 points in the first half.
Arkansas 28, Texas Tech 27 - 1:19 left first half
Isaiah Joe shot faked a defender into the fans sitting courtside and knocked down a long 2 to give Arkansas its first lead of the game. Texas Tech then turned the ball over for a 14th time, and Chris Beard called for time. He was rather upset after Culver's pass was picked off.
Texas Tech 27, Arkansas 26 - 3:07 left first half
Razorbacks continuing to hang around, even as Gafford sits on the bench with two fouls. Gabe Osabuohien just got a rare 3-pointer to fall to pull Arkansas within one at the under-4 timeout. Arkansas forced a shot clock violation defensively on the Red Raiders' last possession.
Texas Tech has turned the ball over 12 times tonight, and those miscues have turned into 13 points. Adrio Bailey is up to seven points already. That's a team-high at this point. He's playing with confidence, and it makes a world of difference with this team when he does.
Arkansas holding the Red Raiders to .931 points per possession right now. That will win you some games - if you can get some big scores.
Texas Tech 22, Arkansas 19 - 7:15 left first half
Razorbacks are shooting just 33 percent (7/21) to this point, but are very much in the game. Texas Tech has turned the ball over eight times, which is why despite hitting 8 of 13 shots, Arkansas is well within striking distance.
Davide Moretti leads all scorers with nine points. Jarrett Culver has only three points on 1/2 shooting and a pair of turnovers in 12 minutes. Adrio Bailey has been a big plus for Arkansas tonight. He has five points, including an early and-1 and a solid midrange jumper to pull Arkansas within 20-19. He will be at the line when play resumes.
Texas Tech 18, Arkansas 17 - 10:50 left first half
Daniel Gafford picked up his second foul and will likely sit the remainder of the half. Chaney checks in for him.
Texas Tech 17, Arkansas 14 - 11:23 left first half
Twelve of Arkansas' 14 points so far are either off Texas Tech turnovers or second-chance buckets. That has to continue. Jalen Harris pulled the Razorbacks within three at the under-12 timeout with a nice layup in transition. Isaiah Joe should have been credited with an assist.
Reggie Chaney not off to a good start off the bench. He traveled on his first offensive touch, then fouled a 3-point shooter and Tech completed a four-point play. He was minus-6 in his two minutes on the floor. Let's see if Mike Anderson sticks with him and goes to him again rather than planting him on the bench like he did against Florida.
Texas Tech 8, Arkansas 6 - 15:36 left first half
Arkansas is 3/9 from the floor and 0/4 from 3-point range, but has played fairly solid to start this one. Jalen Harris scored the Razorbacks' first bucket on a steal, Daniel Gafford added a score following an Adrio Bailey missed jumper, and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson hit a right short-corner jumper.
Embery-Simpson got lost defensively on his first possession in the lineup, then answered with the aforementioned jumper and took a charge on Jarrett Culver right before the media timeout.
Culver has three points early on for the Red Raiders. He had been 3/21 on 3-pointers in Big 12 play this season, but buried his first look of the day. He also assisted on Brandone Francis' layup. Texas Tech is 3/4 shooting but has turned the ball over four times.
Pregame
Arkansas' starting lineup: Jalen Harris, Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, Adrio Bailey and Daniel Gafford.
Adrio Bailey will make his 17th start of the season today in Lubbock. He played only eight minutes and scored one point in Arkansas' win against Missouri on Wednesday. Reggie Chaney will continue to come off the bench. Chaney averages 6.2 points, three rebounds, a block and 1.2 steals per game in SEC play when he doesn't start.
Arkansas may have to play one of its most efficient offensive games of the season to beat the Red Raiders at home. The Razorbacks must create tempo with their defense much like they did Wednesday. Whenever Arkansas can score when Texas Tech's stingy halfcourt defense isn't set, it's a plus.
Texas Tech's starters: Matt Mooney, Jarrett Culver, Davide Moretti, Norense Odiase and Tariq Owens.
Mooney and Owens are Texas Tech's premiere defenders, and both were named to the midseason Naismith Defense Player of the Year Award watch list this week. Owens is among the best shotblockers in the Big 12. Offensively, it starts with Culver, who leads the Red Raiders at nearly 19 points per game. Slowing his production would go a long way in the Razorbacks having a chance to steal a big win.
Live updates by Scottie Bordelon