Tag: Pop Isaacs

Texas Tech point guard commits to Creighton in transfer portal

Texas Tech point guard Pop Isaacs committed to Greg McDermott and the Creighton Blue Jays out of the NCAA transfer portal.

The Creighton Blue Jays have been one of the best teams in all of college basketball the past two years. However, after falling to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 last month, concern mounted that coach Greg McDermott would have a hard time keeping his core together for another go-round.

Baylor Scheierman is out of eligibility and hoping to hear his name called in the 2024 NBA draft, and right before the deadline to declare we learned shooting guard Trey Alexander won’t be returning to Omaha either, clearing two big spots in Creighton’s backcourt.

McDermott went to work immediately filling one of those spots, securing a commitment in the transfer portal from Pop Isaacs, a rising junior who averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.2 rebounds last year as a sophomore at Texas Tech in the Big 12.

Isaacs will pair with returnee Steven Ashworth and fellow transfer portal addition Jamiya Neal (Arizona State) to help keep this Blue Jays team near the top of the Big East standings alongside back-to-back champion UConn and Marquette.

The big question now is if Ryan Kalkbrenner will be back down low for Creighton. If so, this team will once again be among the best in the Big East and should routinely find themselves ranked inside the top 15 as they look to get to a Final Four or beyond in 2025.

No. 11 Oklahoma loses hotly contested Big 12 class against No. 20 Texas Tech 85-84

Oklahoma’s free throw woes and inability to hold a lead haunt them as they lose a close game to Texas tech 85-84.

There are no days off for Big 12 basketball. Even the worst teams in the league will push any team to the brink. Saturday was just another day in the Big 12 as No. 11 Oklahoma and  No. 20 Texas Tech played a barn burner of a game in Norman, Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, the effort wasn’t enough for the Sooners, as Texas Tech outlasted them 85-84.

Texas Tech started strong, racing out to a 17-9 lead in the first half, forcing Porter Moser to call a timeout to settle his troops. The Sooners responded with a 12-0 run with much better defense and more fluidity offensively. From that point to halftime, the teams went back and forth. The Sooners went into the half with a one-point lead at 34-33, a carbon copy of what happened earlier in the week when they hosted their Red River rivals, Texas.

Oklahoma had a 22-17 rebound advantage into the break, led by Rivaldo Soares’ seven rebounds, which accompanied nine first-half points. Foul trouble, a common theme for Oklahoma in the first half of this season, persisted, as Sam Godwin, [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag], and Le’Tre Darthard all had two fouls.

The first 10 minutes saw both teams continue to trade blows. [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag], who, along with McCollum and Otega Oweh, shot a combined 3 for 16, came out from the locker room ready to ball. Uzan scored eight early points after the break, matching Texas Tech’s Chance McMillian’s eight. McMillian would have his best game as he posted 27 points.

With the game tied at 55, five straight points by Oweh, capped by a steal and dunk, helped spark a 13-4 Oklahoma run that had them up 68-59 with 7:30 left in the game. Texas Tech, led by McMillian, Pop Issacs, and West Virginia transfer Joe Toussiant, fought back to tie the game at 73 apiece.

Despite the Sooners fumbling the lead, they had their chance to tie the game and force overtime after Toussaint missed the second of two free throws with 17 seconds left to keep the score at 83-81. Uzan’s’ shot was too strong and clanged off the rim, allowing Isaacs to grab the board, hit free throws, and close the door on Oklahoma’s chances.

Texas Tech made more shots down the stretch and was significantly better at the free throw line, going 16 of 19 at the charity stripe to Olahoma’s 15 of 244 as Tech iced the game late.

Oklahoma was led in points by [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] off the bench, who had 19 points and a team-leading ten rebounds. Oweh, Uzan, and Godwin also finished in double figures scoring.

OU (15-5, 3-4) will take their show on the road to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Jerome Tang and his Kansas State Wildcats Tuesday night.

Texas Tech (16-3, 5-1) will go to Fort Worth to take on the TCU Horned Frogs. 

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Texas Tech runs away from Texas basketball in Austin, 78-67

Texas Tech stuns Texas on the court defeating the Longhorns by double digits.

It’s basketball season in Austin. The Texas Longhorns opened Big 12 conference play with a 78-67 loss to Texas Tech.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders ran away with the game behind a high scoring performance from Pop Isaacs. The Texas Tech guard put up 21 points behind a 3-for-5 three-point shooting night and 7-for-15 performance from the field.

Texas is facing the harsh reality of a poor transfer portal haul following the exit of several key players in the offseason. We were critical of the lack of movement by the team in the way of portal additions, and the lack of contributing Longhorns proved evident on Saturday. 54 of the team’s 67 points came from Texas guards Tyrese Hunter and Max Abmas and forward Dillon Mitchell.

The loss drops Texas to 11-3. The team certainly could have gotten off to a worse start, but has lost to perhaps every quality opponent it has faced this season. It isn’t the start we would have hoped to see from the team through 14 games.

Texas Tech, who went an abysmal 16-16 last season, proved to be the better team by a wide margin on Texas’ home floor. Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry has plenty to work on if this team is to make another NCAA Tournament run.

Texas resumes play on the road against Cincinnati on Tuesday night.