National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Texas Tech 72, Northern Iowa 70
When: 12:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 23, 2023
Where: Imperial Arena, Nassau
Officials: # Jeb Hartness, # Paul Szelc, # Owen Shortt
Attendance: 400

Pop Isaacs hit a game-winning jumper with 0.8 seconds remaining as Texas Tech stormed back from a 15-point deficit in the final 11-plus minutes for a 72-70 victory over Northern Iowa on Thursday afternoon in a consolation semifinal at the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Isaacs scored 18 points and helped Texas Tech (4-1) get the win with an off-balance jumper in the lane over Nate Heise. He started his game-winning move behind the top of the key and drove to his left before releasing a shot that banked in after Northern Iowa's Tytan Anderson's 3 forged a 70-70 tie with 27 seconds left.

Joe Toussaint, who made the pass to Isaacs for the game-winner, led all scorers with 21 points. He scored 14 after halftime, including a tying 3 pointer with 5:05 remaining.

Darrion Williams and Devan Cambridge added 10 apiece for the Red Raiders, who will play Michigan in the fifth-place game on Friday. The Red Raiders outscored the Panthers 29-12 over the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Heise scored 18 points for Northern Iowa (1-4), which had one basket in the final 5:49. Anderson added 14 and Bowen Born contributed 11 for the Panthers. UNI will face Stanford in the seventh-place game on Friday after being outscored by a combined 39 points in the second half in losses to North Carolina and Texas Tech.

The Panthers ripped off a 7-0 run and took a 27-15 lead on a reverse layup by Anderson with 6:19 left in the first half, forcing Texas Tech to burn a 30-second timeout. The Red Raiders got the deficit down to 33-29, but Born converted a four-point play and Heise hit a 3 in the final minute to put the Panthers up 40-31 by halftime.

The Panthers remained in control and took a 49-38 lead with 14 1/2 minutes left in regulation when Heise converted an easy dunk following an errant pass by Williams, resulting in another 30-second timeout by Texas Tech. Northern Iowa forced another 30-second timeout when Heise's second dunk opened a 53-40 lead with 12:59 left.

After Northern Iowa went up 58-43 on Anderson's free throws with 11:31 left, Toussaint scored nine points in Texas Tech's 21-6 run and his 3 as the shot clock ran down forged a 64-64 deadlock with 5:05 left.

The Red Raiders got their first lead at 65-64 on a free throw by Cambridge and opened a four-point edge on Williams' 3-point play with 3:26 left.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Texas Tech   Northern Iowa
Joe Toussaint 21 Scoring Nate Heise 18
Devan Cambridge 2 Assists Nate Heise 3
Darrion Williams 9 Rebounds Nate Heise 8
Joe Toussaint 7 Free Throws Made Tytan Anderson 5
Darrion Williams 2 Steals Trey Campbell 1
Darrion Williams 3 Blocks Nate Heise 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Texas Tech 72 39.3 8-26 16-19 10 30 5 7 8
Northern Iowa 70 47.1 9-21 13-19 14 32 2 2 13