LUBBOCK, Texas — Ochai Agbaji made the go-ahead layup with 13 seconds left and finished with 23 points as No. 5 Kansas beat No. 14 Texas Tech 58-57 on Thursday night, giving the Jayhawks a win in their conference opener for the 30th season in a row.
Agbaji made four 3-pointers but got the game-winning points for the Jayhawks (7-1, 1-0 Big 12) when he worked inside and took an inbound pass from Marcus Garrett.
Texas Tech (6-2, 0-1) had one more opportunity, with coach Chris Beard calling a timeout with 6.2 seconds left to set up a final play. But Terrence Shannon Jr., who had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Red Raiders, had his mid-range jumper blocked by Jalen Wilson to end the game.
Garrett had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Kansas, which has never lost a Big 12 opener, and last lost a conference opener during the 1990-91 season in the old Big Eight Conference. The Jayhawks have won 18 of those 30 openers on the road. Christian Braun also had 10 rebounds.
Mac McClung led Texas Tech with a season-high 21 points, but didn’t score in the last 11 minutes. It was the third 20-point game this season for the transfer from Georgetown.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 94, ST. JOHN’S 76
NEW YORK — Marcus Zegarowski scored 20 points, shooting 6 for 7 from 3-point range, and No. 9 Creighton cruised to a victory over St. John’s.
Denzel Mahoney had 16 points and freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner added 15 off the bench to help the Bluejays (5-2, 1-1 Big East) bounce back from a home loss to Marquette in their conference opener Monday night.
Damien Jefferson had 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Christian Bishop added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Creighton.
Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm (5-4, 0-3) with 17 points, and freshman Posh Alexander had 13.