March 13, 2003
Quotes?|? Notes
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS - Bob Knight already gave back his salary. But Texas Tech still hasn't given up on making the NCAA tournament.
Andre Emmett rebounded his own miss and made the go-ahead basket with 12.4 seconds left and the Red Raiders beat Baylor 68-65 in the Big 12 tournament Thursday night.
The Red Raiders (17-11) scored the game's last 10 points as Baylor - after making 13 3-pointers - didn't manage a point in the final 4:53 of the game.
Baylor (14-14) trailed just 66-65 after Emmett's basket and had one more chance. R.T. Guinn, who had 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, passed up an open shot and instead gave the ball to John Lucas, who missed badly on an 8-foot shot.
Kasib Powell was fouled in the wild scramble for the rebound. He made both of his free throws with just two-tenths of a second left.
Emmett finished with 23 points, and as the final flurry was ending shouted in celebration as the Tech-heavy crowd continued in a frenzy in the junior's hometown.
The Red Raiders ended a three-game losing streak, their longest under Knight, who said this week that he wouldn't accept his $250,000 base salary for this season because he hadn't lived up to his own expectations.
Tech went 23-9 last year and went to the NCAA tournament in its first season under Knight after four straight losing seasons.
Texas Tech moves on to play third-ranked Texas (22-5) in a quarterfinal game Friday night. The Red Raiders will likely have to win two more Big 12 games and get into Sunday's final for an NCAA berth, but seem guaranteed at least an NIT bid.
Before Emmett's go-ahead basket, the Red Raiders hadn't led since Powell's free throw with 4:52 left in the first half provided a 29-28 lead after Baylor had tied the game for the first time.
Powell added 20 points for the Red Raiders, and both he and Emmett had eight rebounds. Nathan Doudney had 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Kenny Taylor led Baylor with 22 points, including six 3-pointers. Guinn led the Bears with 10 rebounds.
Guinn's turnaround shot with 4:53 left had put Baylor up 65-58. Emmett then had a putback of Doudney's missed 3-pointer and forced a Baylor turnover on the next possession before hitting another basket to make it 65-62.
Baylor missed its last six shots, and on its only free throw attempts of the game Matt Sayman missed the front-end of bonus situations with 2:12 and 1:49 left.
The Bears ended the game the way they began it, in a horrible slump. Texas Tech jumped out to an 8-0 lead and Baylor missed its first seven shots - six of them 3-pointers.
Baylor was 26-of-38 shooting between those two slumps, but the last collapse cost them their second win over Tech in six days. The Bears won the regular season finale between the two 74-68 on Saturday.
Texas Tech led 24-11 after Powell made a strong move inside to score with 9:14 left. Then Guinn hit a 3-pointer, the first of seven straight made treys for the Bears.
Baylor had five straight 3-pointers and a slam dunk by Lawrence Roberts in a 17-4 run, tying the game on Andre White's long-range shot with 5:17 left.
After Emmett's free throw broke the 28-all tie, the Bears hit two more 3-pointers - by Taylor and Guinn - and led until the closing seconds.
The Bears made their first four shots of the second half, including 3-pointers by Taylor, Guinn and White, for a 45-34 lead. That was the last time the margin was double digits.
