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BYU's Noah Waterman, center, fights for a loose ball with three Texas Tech players during a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU coach Mark Pope (center) gives instruction to his team during a time out at a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore goes up for a shot against Texas Tech in a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Jaxson Robinson (2) drives past Texas Tech's Joe Toussaint during a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU President Shane Reese (center), BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe (in blue hoody) and BYU Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink (right) talk to Kansas City Chiefs head coach and BYU alum Andy Reid before a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Kansas City Chiefs head coach and BYU alum Andy Reid (center) chats with BYU president Shane Reese (right) and Cosmo the Cougar before a Big 12 men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Noah Waterman (0) drives past Texas Tech's Pop Isaacs during a Big 12 Tournament men's basketball quarterfinal game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BYU picked a bad time to have their worst half of basketball of the season.

Give No. 4 seed Texas Tech some of the credit for a super efficient offense and outstanding energy right from the start, but the fifth-seeded Cougars weren’t able to put up much of a fight in their Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday. BYU fell behind big early and eventually took an 81-67 loss at T-Mobile Center.

“Sometimes you’re fighting an uphill battle,” Cougar coach Mark Pope said. “And things start to disintegrate a little bit. Our team has been really, really resilient. That’s actually the standard we have and what we expect. The guys hung in there and there were a few moments where it felt like we got over the edge and we were the aggressor. But for the vast majority of the game we were on our heels offensively and defensively.”

The Cougars managed just 23 points in the first half that featured dreadful shooting (7 of 33, 21%), leaky defense and poor rebounding, resulting in the largest deficit of the season (23 points) at 40-17 with under three minutes to go in the first half. The Cougars trailed 42-23 at the break.

The 23 points was BYU’s lowest output in any half in 2023-24, two less than the 25 points scored in the second half at Iowa State on March 6.

“We came in locked in,” Texas Tech guard Kerwin Walton said. “They said a few things about us before the game so it turnt us up a little bit. We heard certain things like they were ready for us and excited to see us, but they didn’t know how ready we were for them.”

The Cougars gave their fans a tiny glimmer of hope and went on a 15-0 run with under ten minutes to play, getting a pair of 3-pointers from Robinson and five points from Richie Saunders to trail by just seven, 62-55, with 5:04 remaining.

But Texas Tech woke up and got consecutive triples from Joe Toussaint and Darrion Williams (between a missed open 3 by Trevin Knell) to claim a 68-55 lead with 3:52 left to go.

“That’s just how the game works,” Cougar guard Jaxson Robinson said. “We don’t get to choose when we make shots and when we don’t. What matters is if we’re going to come out there and fight. I felt like by the time we decided to put up that fight, it was too late.”

The Red Raiders (23-9), which have won four games in a row, advance to the semifinals against the top-seeded Houston Cougars on Friday.

In the first meeting in Lubbock, BYU led Texas Tech by 17 points, 35-18, at the 6:41 mark of the first half and 48-32 at halftime in a game eventually won by the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said his team was intense even in the walk-through at the hotel on Wednesday night, and the Cougars were unable to match that level of intensity early in the game.

BYU fell behind 9-0 before Aly Khalifa scored inside with 17:15 to play in the half. The Cougars were doubled up (22-11) on the third second-chance opportunity for Texas Tech on an offensive rebound by Lamar Washington with 12:08 remaining.

BYU suffered through a 1 for 19 shooting stretch and didn’t score a field goal for nearly six minutes, dropping to a 40-17 deficit. Pop Isaacs, who torched the Cougars for 32 points in the first meeting, stole the ball in the backcourt from an unsuspecting Spencer Johnson and busted a 3-pointer for the 23-point lead.

BYU’s shooting numbers were dismal, including 3 for 18 (17%) from the 3-point line. The Cougars were outrebounded 26-17, which led to a 12-3 advantage for Texas Tech in second-change points. Isaacs finished with 15 first-half points and along with Walton and Chance McMillian combined to make 7 of 9 from beyond the arc.

That epically bad first half was way too much to overcome and a complete reversal from Wednesday’s second round win against UCF, where BYU started out with a 21-3 lead.

“A ton of credit to Texas Tech,” Pope said. “They played great and I thought they were really focused. I thought they were completely dialed in. We were disappointed with how things went. Sometimes you’re out on the court and if feels like it’s so hard to make progress and there were a number of statistical reasons for that, but it was a really frustrating morning for us.”

Robinson paced the Cougars with 18 points but was just 6 of 18 from the field and 4 of 12 from the 3-point line. Fousseyni Traore scored 13 points and Richie Saunders 12 before fouling out late in the game. Point guard Dallin Hall had seven assists but was 0 for 6 from the field and scored just two points.

The Cougars shot 53% from the field in the second half but never did find the range from beyond the arc, finishing at 20% (7 of 35).

Isaacs led Texas Tech with 22 points with four teammates joining him in double figures. McMillian came off the bench to score 17 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.

BYU (23-10) awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday.

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