Texas Tech defeats Jacksonville in NIT
March 20, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP)—Brad Reese had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead TexasTech past Jacksonville 69-64 Saturday in the second round of the NationalInvitation Tournament.
The Red Raiders (19-15) overcame an 11-point first-half deficit and didn’ttake the lead until 14:51 remained, when a dunk and free throw by D’waylnRoberts made it 45-42.
Jacksonville tied it 62 on a basket by Ben Smith with 2:11 remaining, butthe Red Raiders got stops and made free throws to close out the Dolphins.
Red Raiders coach Pat Knight let his players have it during a first-halftimeout.
“I actually was calm at halftime,” he said. “They probably thought I wasgoing to go off on them. I have trust in these guys. That wasn’t us in the firsthalf. They’re better than this plus these guys get on each other.
Reese was 5 of 11 from the field, and 3 of 4 on 3-pointers. It was the firstdouble-double of his career.
Tech will play Mississippi in Oxford on Tuesday.
“They’ve put themselves in position to win five games more than lastyear,” he said. “There are so many positives already. Whatever happens inOxford is just going to be something added to it.”
Smith scored 17 points to lead the Dolphins (20-13).
He missed six of his seven 3-point attempts, but Jacksonville coach CliffWarren said those misses frequently led to second-chance points.
“He’s been great,” Warren said. “He’s led us on the court and off thecourt the entire year.”
Texas Tech shot poorly to open the game, missing its first nine shots tofall behind 10-0. The Dolphins went up by double digits twice in the first halfand the Red Raiders’ top three scorers—John Roberson, Mike Singletary and NickOkorie—combined to hit on only 3 of 10 from the field for eight points.
Jacksonville led 35-28 at halftime.