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Texas Tech upends No. 12 Washington 99-92 OT

Dec 4, 2009 - 7:48 AM By BETSY BLANEY Associated Press Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas(AP) -- Pat Knight wanted his Texas Tech team to go into a zone defense out as it came out of a timeout by No. 12 Washington with the Red Raiders leading by two points in overtime.

John Roberson told his coach he thought man-to-man would be better.

"That's how he got the steal," Knight said. "The kid steps up."

Roberson, who scored a season-high 25 points, turned the steal into a layup with 44 seconds remaining to seal the undefeated Red Raiders' 99-92 victory.

Texas Tech is 8-0 to start a season for the first time since 1929. Knight isn't focused on the history.

"This means a lot to us," he said. "This gets us ready for the rest of the nonconference, but it really prepares us for the Big 12."

Texas Tech withstood an official review at the end of regulation that took away a 3-pointer that would have given Tech the win in the matchup of unbeaten teams.

Elston Turner of the Huskies missed two free throws with 4.8 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 80.

Mike Singletary of Texas Tech brought the ball up and appeared to have won the game on a running 3-pointer as time expired but officials determined he did not get the shot off before the buzzer.

The crowd swarmed the court, thinking the game was over. The fans, and the debris they left behind, had to be cleared from the court before the overtime could begin.

Knight said he suspected Singletary's basket might be negated although he believed he shot it in time.

"I just stood there and waited for the worst," Knight said. "We ended up winning twice, I guess."

Roberson said he's surprised how well he and his teammates are playing. But he knows the season is still young and one big win is just that, one win.

"I don't want to start praising yet," the junior said. "We have a lot of basketball to play. For us to come along this quickly, I'm shocked, to be honest. I'm just going to keep telling them, 'Don't be satisfied."'

Texas Tech, which had five players in double figures, outscored the Huskies 19-12 in overtime.

Quincy Pondexter scored a career-high 31 points for the Huskies (5-1), the only ranked team from the Pac-10, a conference that is struggling early in the season.

"It took us a half maybe to understand how to play basketball, both ends of the floor," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We made some careless efforts rotating and getting back on defense and gave them some easy baskets in the first half."

He had high praise for Roberson.

"He really ran his team and took his opportunities when they were there," Romar said. "He was an outstanding lead guard out there tonight and was probably the difference in the ball game."

Down nine points at halftime, the Huskies used a 10-2 run to tie it at 60 when Darnell Gant hit a jump shot with about 13 minutes remaining. There were nine lead changes over the next 8 minutes.

A double technical foul was called with 3:49 remaining in regulation after D'walyn Roberts fouled Washington's Isaiah Thomas and the two got entangled going for the rebound under the Huskies basket. Thomas hit the first of his two free throws to put Washington 76-74. The technicals canceled each other out and no free throws were taken.

Tech went up 78-77 on a free throw by Roberson before Thomas missed a jumper with 2:31 remaining. Roberts missed a dunk and Thomas came back with a 3 to put Washington up 80-78.

Singletary hit a jumper in the lane to tie it at 80 with 1:17 remaining.

That's when Brad Reese, who scored a career-high 17 points, fouled Turner with 4.8 seconds remaining in regulation.

Reese, a reserve, was 3 of 5 from 3-point range, his last capping a 10-4 run by Texas Tech to go up 38-32 with 4:51 remaining in the first half. Texas Tech led 50-41 at halftime.

"Brad was good; he was on fire," Knight said. "I thought he did the best job of all our guys" who guarded Thomas, who finished with 18 points on 4-of-15 shooting.