TULSA, Okla. (AP) Jarrett Culver had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help No. 3 seed Texas Tech shake off a slow start and beat No. 14 seed Northern Kentucky 72-57 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Tariq Owens scored 12 points and Davide Moretti had 10 for Texas Tech (27-6), which had won nine straight games to share the Big 12 regular-season title before losing to lowly West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. That left them with an eight-day layoff.

It showed early on against Northern Kentucky (26-9), which got 23 points from Tyler Sharpe and 11 from Dantez Walton while giving the Red Raiders everything they could handle in the West Region.