BY JEFF WALKER
A-J SPORTS EDITOR

Texas Tech might have received the perfect gift heading into Friday’s matchup with No. 4 Pittsburgh — a tough game.

After four consecutive blowouts, the Red Raiders didn’t have the luxury of substituting freely, or playing fancy or trying new schemes or player combinations.

Southeastern Louisiana held a halftime lead for the fourth straight game, but for the third time, the Lions were outscored in the second half.

Alan Voskuil hit a pair of 3-point goals early after halftime and D’walyn Roberts had the best game of his young college career to help Tech to a 74-63 win Tuesday in front of an announced crowd of 9,493 at United Spirit Arena.

The Lions (1-3) led at Arkansas in the season opener, 38-36, at halftime before losing 91-87 in overtime. They led at Lipscomb in their last game, 29-28, at halftime before losing 70-58. And they led Tech, 38-37, at the break as the Red Raiders committed 10 first-half turnovers and shot 42 percent.

Tech coach Pat Knight was asked what he said to his players at halftime.

“I can’t say most of it on TV. Are we on cable? If this was HBO or Showtime, we’d be in good shape,” he said. “We really kind of challenged them from a defensive standpoint. When we weren’t hitting shots, it looked to me like guys were pouting, walking back and giving up quick buckets. To me, if you’re not hitting shots you buckle down on defense and try to get some easy baskets off your defense.”

The Red Raiders’ defense was led by Roberts, who finished with a career-high three blocked shots. On each of his blocks, he came from the back side of the defense to help. Each came in the second half and led to points for the Red Raiders.

Voskuil said he’s had firsthand experience in practice where he went up for a shot thinking he had a clear path to the basket, only to get it rejected by Roberts.

“I’m used to it,” he said.

“He’s an energy player,” Voskuil added. “He can defend guards, he can get rebounds and guard forwards. As you saw, he can block shots. He’s a versatile player and that’s something we need on this team.”

Roberts also tied a career high with 13 points and added a career-best nine rebounds.

Tech’s defense limited SLU leading scorer Kevyn Green to just nine points, 13 below his season average. The Red Raiders held the Lions to 25 second-half points, including only 10 in the first 13 minutes after the break.

The improved play on defense helped Tech (5-0) open a double-digit lead at the 9:12 mark on a layup by Roberts. The Red Raiders’ biggest lead of the game, though, only reached 13 when John Roberson — who led the team with 20 points — hit a layup at the 4:21 mark to give Tech a 68-55 lead.

The Lions (1-3) never let the game get out of hand, though, like Tech’s first four opponents. In each of the four previous games, Tech led by double digits at halftime and ended up winning by more than 20 in three of the games. The Red Raiders led Sam Houston State by more than 20 in the second half before the Bearkats hit a late flurry to provide the final margin of defeat at 11.

“This team came after us a little bit,” Knight said. “I told our guys this would be the best team we’ve played so far. They’re very athletic, they’re well-coached, they took Arkansas to overtime and they’re kind of like us in that when they get going, they get hot and can’t miss. I think that kind of spooked our guys a little bit.”

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