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Jackson's shot at the buzzer upsets Texas A&M

Feb 14, 2007 - 7:11 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Jarrius Jackson took care of two streaks with one shot.

Jackson hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer and scored 31 points as Texas Tech snapped a five-game losing streak with a 77-75 upset of sixth-ranked Texas A&M in a Big 12 Conference thriller.

Despite remaining below .500 in the conference, the Red Raiders (16-10, 5-6 Big 12) improved their chances for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament by once again getting the best of the Aggies, who absorbed their first home loss in 22 games dating to last season.

Taking a 75-72 lead after Charlie Burgess split two free throws with 17 seconds left, Texas Tech saw just how fleeting that lead was when Acie Law IV came off a screen and hit a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left to tie the game for Texas A&M (21-4, 9-2).

Choosing not to call a timeout, Jackson took the inbounds pass and raced up the court, taking a 10-foot jumper from the left wing after Aggies forward Marlon Pompey jumped past him.

"I looked at the clock and saw that we had six seconds and I just wanted to take it as deep as I could," Jackson said. "I think that if I would have taken it all the way down to the rack, they would have collapsed on me so I pulled up."

"I made the shot and I was trying to get back to my man," Law said. "Jackson went down and made a great play. Jackson was hot all night and he capped it off with a game-winner. We have to put this one behind us."

Jackson finished 12-of-20 from the field with four 3-pointers for the Red Raiders, who also edged the Aggies with a 70-68 home victory on January 24. Since that point, Texas Tech had not won, dropping its previous five games, including a 93-91 double-overtime setback at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

"It was a big win for us," Jackson said. "We've been on a five-game losing streak. We wanted to come here and play hard and get back on track."

With the win, Knight captured win No. 885 and avoided tying the longest losing skid of his career. The future Hall of Fame coach last lost six consecutive games in his last season with Army in 1970-71.

"Jackson's basket was obviously a great thing for us to wind up the game with," Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said. "It was the first time in our last three games that we've made the play to win the game."

Law scored 23 points for Texas A&M, which had a five-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time since the setback at Texas Tech.

"It was a tough loss for us," Aggies coach Billy Gillispie said. "They played really well. We couldn't stop them. When we got opportunities to do something special, we turned the ball over too much."

Early on, it was the sloppy play of the Red Raiders that allowed the Aggies to grab a 38-31 lead at the half. Texas Tech had 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but finished with 18 to tie a season high.

"We had 14 turnovers at the end of the first half," Knight said. "I think we had five in the first five minutes of the game. We were lucky to be in the ballgame at halftime."

A pair of baskets by Joseph Jones in the opening 1 1/2 minutes of the second half built Texas A&M's lead up to 42-31, but Texas Tech later began to chip away.

The Red Raiders eventually made their charge midway through the second half, taking a 57-55 lead when Decensae White's 3-pointer capped a 12-2 burst with 9:31 remaining. Jackson had five points during the burst.

Both teams went back and forth until an 8-2 run put Texas Tech ahead, 71-65, on a layup by Martin Zeno with 1:51 left. Texas A&M immediately sliced that deficit in half on a three-point play by Antanas Kavaliauskas 15 seconds later.

Kavaliauskas later fouled out on a drive by Zeno with 1:25 remaining, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Zeno had 19 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Red Raiders, who converted 10-of-12 free throws in the second half.