Singular Sensation
BY JEFF WALKER l A-J SPORTS EDITOR
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Texas Tech men’s basketball team has its Insight Bowl.
The Red Raiders, thanks to Mike Singletary, will continue their season.
The sophomore scored 29 consecutive points to help the Red Raiders set a Big 12 Conference tournament record for largest come-from-behind victory in an 88-83 win on Wednesday at the Ford Center.
Above The Rim by Jeff Walker
Tech coach Pat Knight, who usually doesn’t give opening comments when addressing the media after the game, couldn’t help himself after what he just watched.
“I have to say, these guys have got two things — they’ve got heart and they’ve got cajones. I think I can say that without getting into trouble,” Knight said.
“That’s what this team has. I don’t care what the record is, this team has those two things. I’m proud of them. I can’t say anything more than that. To come back like that, against a good team like that just says everything about these guys.”
The previous mark was held by Texas, which came back from 18 down in the 2007 tournament to beat Baylor.
Texas Tech's Mike Singletary (32) jumps to the basket in the second half against Texas A&M during an NCAA college basketball game at the Big 12 Conference men's tournament in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)
The Red Raiders (14-18) will play third-seeded Missouri in a tournament quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. today.
Singletary finished with 43 points, the most by a player in Big 12 tournament history. It’s also one point shy of the all-time record for points scored in a Big 12 game. That is held by Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and matched this year by K-State’s Denis Clemente.
Tech trailed 48-29 at the break, and the Red Raiders’ season appeared over after they committed 12 turnovers and shot 35 percent in the first 20 minutes.
The comeback mirrored the one made by the Tech football team, which trailed by 31 points in the third quarter of the 2006 Insight Bowl before rallying for a 44-41 overtime win against Minnesota.
The Red Raiders started to rally before Singletary went on his run, cutting a 21-point deficit down to 10 with 10:14 remaining.
The rest of the game belonged to Singletary.
A layup at the 9:34 mark started Singletary’s run and pulled Tech within eight, the closest the Red Raiders were to the Aggies since the 16:30 mark of the first half.
Singletary, who finished 14 of 20 from the field and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line, hit layups. He hit jumpers. And, as he’s done lately, he hit 3-pointers.
Despite only seven 3-pointers to this point, Singletary went 3 for 4 from beyond the arc against the Aggies.
“I was just in a zone, I think,” the sophomore forward said. “My teammates kept getting me the ball. We didn’t want to lose this game. We didn’t want to go home. We kept fighting hard and getting stops and most of my shots just kept going in.”
Texas A&M's Donald Sloan (15) and Texas Tech's Michael Prince (30) give chase to a loose ball in the first half during an NCAA college basketball game at the Big 12 Conference men's tournament in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)
His second 3-pointer trimmed Tech’s deficit to 67-62 with 5:19 to play.
No matter who was playing defense or what the situation was, Tech was feeding the ball to Singletary, who was scoring against anyone.
After converting a three-point play at the 4:24 mark that cut the deficit to a basket, Singletary twice split a pair of free throws — keeping the Aggies ahead.
Another converted three-point play at the 2:47 mark and Tech trailed 71-70. Singletary reached 20 consecutive points at that juncture.
Singletary’s third 3-pointer tied the game at 75, the first time the game was tied since the opening seconds.
“It was just obvious, we had to keep giving him the ball,” said Tech senior Alan Voskuil, who had a similar hot performance in scoring 35 in Tech’s 84-65 win on March 4 against then-No 9 Kansas. “We were all on his back. … I had no problem doing it and I guarantee neither did anybody else.”
Singletary’s bank shot from inside the lane with 39.4 seconds to play gave Tech its first lead, 79-78.
The Red Raiders never trailed again, hitting nine free throws in the final 26.8 seconds.
To comment on this story:
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com l 766-8735
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Amazing!!!!!!!!!
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Now where is all them SMACK talkin (SELL OUT RAIDER FANS) All you people that bad mouthed Knight and this team..
IN YOUR FACE………..
“WRECK MIZZOU”
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What an amazing game and what an amazing individual performance.. Congratulations… Wreck ‘em Tech…
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Amazing! Incredible determination by a big playmaker and the others did fantastic in a supporting role. Way to go Raiders! I’m just waiting for all those people to start saying “a little too late” and “should have” or “would have” blah, blah, blah… Great game to those Red Raiders!
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I can not wait to see this team play next year…….and the year after that. I can assure you coaches around the Big 12 are worried about this young team. Too bad Alan won’t be part of it…….
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WRECK MIZZOU!!!!!
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That was the most amazing one-man show I have ever seen, college or pro. Singletary carried Tech on his broad shoulders the second half like no one in a Raider uniform has since Swoopes did it in ‘93 for the Lady Raiders.This is exactly what I had hoped he would be capable of when Tech signed him, because he showed that kind of talent in high school. With Robertson and Okorie flanking him next year, Lew in the middle and a new face added, this team could really surprise next year. Of course, they have to play this well each and every game. But, we have seen what this team is capable of in two big games late this year. I hope they can get at least one or two more wins this year to carry over. GO TECH!
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Without a doubt the most amazing 1-man show/comeback I have ever seen. It rivals the Tech comeback from 11 down to a 10-0 Texas with 1:10 left in the game back in the early 80s (before the 3-point shot!). Striking what a reversal this was from Tech’s fortunes through much of the season, when they would get big leads early on and gradually lose them down the stretch. Nice to see the opposite trend this game. What a huge emotional boost this will be for this team in future games to realize that they are capable of coming back from such a deficit. I really look forward to seeing what Singletary can do over the next couple years, though I wouldn’t expect to see something like tonight again in my lifetime! Anyone know if it set any sort of NCAA record for most consecutive points in a game?
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@Raider P:
Here I am, one of the SMACK talking fans…too funny, one game and you’re ready to buy season tickets! Great game and great performance by Singletary – nothing KNight did. I still say he is not a Big 12 caliber coach at this point in his career.
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Talk your talk….moron….you probably could not back up anything you put on this blog.
I’ll call you out anyday any time…..
Just tell me where………..
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@Raider P:
Like I said – too funny! You don’t know anything about me. Sports Nympho simply implies lover of sports – can’t get enough. I will continue to voice my opinions as I always have in an ADULT manner and leave the childish antics to you and your pals. For the record, I have been to every home game for the past four years – and some track meets and baseball games. Umm, wondering if P stands for PAT as in knight?
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Way to go, Red Raiders!
Keep it up. Let’s end this year with a BANG!
Remind me again…Why are we trash talking?
We just won an amazing game!
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woooooooooooooopie Nympho……..
An ADULT would not go to all those games and then bad mouth his team.
You just sorry man…….go back TEXAS or some other team.
PS…bet you can’t match the $$,$$$$ I give to Tech every year huh?
Buying your lil tickets makes you a big man huh?Or..
duhhhhhh!! look at me I go to the games…duhhhhhhh!!!
idiot….
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Glass half empty Nymph. Bend over and enjoy teh moment.
Mike Singletary – BEAST!
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Why are we trash talking? because of people like Nymho.Clay…..
They have to run their mouth.
I will defend Tech and their coaches anyday………
Nympo is just a sell out….that’s all
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Better yet…I’ll just ignore his ###… You ain’t worth it….
NEMO……….lmao……..
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@Raider P:
Anyone reading the comments will quickly realize who the idiot is. And I am glad that I have your permission to spend my money elsewhere! :) And trust me, the amount of money I spend and give to Tech gives me EVERY RIGHT to voice my opinion when I agree and DISAGREE. You call it bad mouthing, I call it the truth! As a matter of fact, let’s meet here tomorrow and comment on the Mizzou game! :) Good night my love…mmmwwwaaahhh
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I can not believe they blocked this game from the DFW area. GREAT GAME.
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(now that we can go on talking about the great win without a smart mouth interuption)
Yeah I believe we can win this whole thing.It may seem a little far fetched but I think we can beat anyone.We beat Kansas,and then we only lost to Iowa by two…The team is playing with allot of heart and soul.
I heard ESPN today say that TECH was playing some good ball.And to not sell them short.I just have a good feeling about these next three days.If not yeah there is allot to build on.Only being Knights first year,you have to take the good with the bad.
But it ain’t over yet…….
Knight has done a great job…..he is growing as a coach….and that is to be admired!
“WRECK EM”
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NYMPHO
get ahold of yourself man we know the season is pretty meruch over cant you just enjoy a big win
Raider P
he is a sell out if he cant enjoy a win with the rest of us
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Its a shame that you cant come and make simple comments on here without some childish idiots trying to ruin it all for everyone. I wonder what Frd the Aggie fan has to say now about his Tier #1 Aggies? Lmao!
Way To Go RED RAIDERS! :-)
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Click here
See what Knight says about heart and about this team after the win….
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What is up w/ Raider P … drinking the Koolaid.
TTU had a great comeback. Fact. Also fact that TTU is now 7-10 in conference play, likely 7-11 after Mizzou. This is something to be proud of? To be consistently outrecruited by … among others … BU? The TTU hoops program is in shambles. The win over KU is fool’s gold. Any team can go crazy on 3-balls in one game. This is the same TTU that lost by 40 (40!) to Stanford. I can stomach getting outrecruited by UT and OU. Happens in football too. But, over the last 5 years by TAMU an BU. Right now, TTU is the worst program (not just 08/09) of all Big 12-South teams.
And the fact that I “call ‘em like I see ‘em:” does not impugn my school loyalty or desire for TTU to excel.
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Unbelieveable performance by Singletary and the Raiders, way to go Raiders, way to go.
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3 words
Soph o more. There’s something to look forward to next year!
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POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRR aggies!
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So proud of you all, Guns Up Red Raiders.
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Play every game like this and that’s something to be proud of.
I’m proud of the way they played against Kansas and Aggy.
But the rest of the season? Why couldn’t they play that hard against TCU in Lubbock?
Oh, yeah, Poor Aggys.
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A&M is still a “Tier 1″ school.
Tech is still struggling financially in the athletic department. For some reason no Tech fan disputes this statement.
A&M has already beaten Tech twice this year so I am not sure what they had to prove.
Tech fan will use any win to justify Pat Knight’s hiring.
I say give Pat Knight a contract extension because he just won his second game away from Lubbock this season.
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AUSTIN — Support from state leaders will boost the chances of the University of Texas at San Antonio gaining elite status as a national research university under a plan likely to gain legislative approval this spring.
Texas only has three elite Tier 1 universities — the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Rice University — compared with nine in California and seven in New York.
“One of the reasons we are behind is we’ve picked a particular university (to join the elite status) and the other regions ganged up and said, ‘No, you’re not,’ and then we didn’t pick anyone,” said House Higher Education Committee Chairman Dan Branch, R-Dallas.
Branch and other legislative leaders are pushing a plan to gradually elevate seven additional Texas universities to Tier 1 status. Such national research universities attract considerable federal research grants, first-class faculty and high-achieving students. House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst support the plan.
House Bill 51 and Senate Bill 9 create a plan and pathway for UTSA — along with Texas Tech, the University of Houston, UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas, UTEP and the University of North Texas — to become national research universities.
The bills are considered priority legislation in each chamber and come with a $210 million provision in the state’s proposed 2010-11 budget. Branch estimated that it would take an extra $70 million per year to develop each school into a top-tier university.
State funding would flow to the Tier 1 contenders based on degrees awarded, number of recognized faculty and federal research expenditures. Community support and private contributions also will play a factor.
“The key thing is to supercharge the journey and bring more people along faster,” Branch said before a hearing on his legislation. “Within the decade, you would hope to have at least one (more Tier 1 school) and at least three moving in that direction and getting close.”
About 10,000 of Texas’ top high school students head to elite out-of-state universities each year, Branch said. Many never return. Expanding the number of Tier 1 universities also would ease the admission pressures at UT-Austin and Texas A&M, Branch and others said.
Transforming UTSA into a top-tier university would create an economic boom for San Antonio and give students more options beyond UT-Austin and A&M, said Higher Education Committee Vice Chairman Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.
“And I’m glad that we are in that group of universities that have a chance to become a top-tier university,” Castro said. “All we’re asking for is a chance to compete.”
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Hey Jeff -
What time do the aggies play today…oh, yeah – nevermind.
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Good win for TTU and a great game for Mike Singletary. He has played well the past few games. The team has played better the last few games as well.
This could go a long way towards building a good season next year.
I would love it if they could somehow get into post season play, it would help so much towards next year’s season.
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told ya. i said they would beat the aggies. check my last blog.
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The first time I saw Mike Singletary in h.s. playoffs I said he would be the next Andre Emmitt for Tech – I rest my case. Give Pat Knight a break – this is his 1st full year – give him a chance to recruit his own players/his own style.
Awesome win!!!! Thanks Red Raiders for a great game. Win or lose against Mizzou I know you played your hearts out. Good luck!
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C’mon guys. This is Pat’s first year as a head coach. The freshmen and sophomore’s have grown a lot through the year and he supposedly has a good group coming in next year. If you know anything about basketball you should like his style of play. The help defense could use a little work, but overall it’s much of an improvement over his old man. Give the guy a chance to get his thing going.
Christy – now that’s another story. Her time is about up as far as I’m concerned.
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This is Pat’s first year? Yeah … but .. Hasn’t he been responsible for recruiting, even under BK? TTU has been outrecruited by every other team in the B12-South.
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Yes, Junior has been recruiting, but in the past it was for his dad’s teams. Now, it is his teams. He is totally different in many ways. Although The General was one of the greatest coaches ever, he had his drawbacks. One was that many talented players refused to play for him. Also, Th General himself had slowed down his own involvement in the recruiting process the last few years. With the enthusiasm Junior has and the emotion for his players he displays, it is beginning to have a positive affect on recruits. His future does look bright and I certainly hope all will give him credit for starting the turnaround for Tech basketball. They have a good nucleus of players returning next year ans, as was stated above, a good recruiting class arriving next year. So, take heart and stand behind this team. Support from the fans is so important right now and Junior deserves that support, as does the players. They have all worked very hard to reach this point and will only improve. Good game, Tech. We all look forward to the future.
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I’m so disappointed that those of us in the Dallas area were prevented from seeing the game on TV as it was pre-empted by the Mavericks’ game.
Voskuil and Roberson need to get ready tonight as Mizzo will have Singletary covered like a blanket. They will try to foul him out. Great game Mike.
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Jeff, the only kind of person that brings up academic smack in an athletics forum is a loser!
Pat Knight is a young coach. He has shown signs of improvement towards the end of this season. This momentum will carry into next season. Tech has some new, talented recruits coming in as well. Good things to come!
Wreck ‘em!
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Do us all a favor GUNS SIDEWAYS and point them guns at yourself and………………………………………….!!!! What a great game.
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Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now & then! A 19 loss season is not much to be proud of!!
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yeah sideways, Pat was recruiting kids to play for BOBBY and that was a huge drawback. Now he’s recruiting for himself which is a huge difference and as far as being outrecruited, Robertson, Singleterry and Big Lew would have made any big 12 program. If you knew anything about basketball you’d see how much we have improved. Obviously all you want to do is gripe.
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The Aggies will continue to play after the Big 12 Tourney.
If Tech can pull off three more miracles they can say the same.
Good luck !
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WEll one thing is for sure you guys up above, Texas Tech has become the official PAIN IN THE AS* for those Aggies! Oh how they must hate us. I remember how Francionne insisted that we are not their rivalry, but that Texas was their rival. Of course he said it like we aren’t good enough to be their rivalry! Those Aggies must be going Nuts right now. We just keep right on peeing in their pool. It just feels so good.
Let’s do something great now against Missouri!
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Yawn. Tech beats A&M, again. Owns the Ags on the field and now this. It’s almost comical. Baylor kicking Kansas as I type.
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Amazing performance and effort by Singletary and the rest of the guys realizing that he was in the zone and keep feeding him the ball. Last night’s comeback was a joy to watch. They only way it could have been better is if it was against tu.
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Chris, check the halftime score!!
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Yawn, A&M will play in the post season for the fourth year in a row.
Yawn, A&M had beaten Tech three times in a row in basketball before last night. Somehow, yawn, Tech owns the Aggies.
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yawn… we have our worst team in years this year….
yawn… when a&m had their best team EVER, we swept, including that oh so sweet buzzer beater by j jack down in college station
yawn…. a&m plays in the tournament again
yawn… they get taken out in the second round
yawn…. hopefully they get jammed on at the buzzer again like they did against UCLA last year… wait, no yawn, that was awesome!
way to go Mike! Knight is getting the most out of his players, & i think that is something to hang your hat on as a coach. He definitely doesn’t have the best, but they are giving effort. Way to go Tech.
Oh, and Ezmir Rizvic may single handedly be the worst player to ever come through the Big 12. Not even close to being any kind of threat, offensively or defensively…. wait I take that back, he actually is a pretty big threat to TECH…. graduate and get outta here already!!!!
WRECK MIZZOU!
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yawn, Tech has its worst team in years because of Bob and Pat Knight (unless u can blame Kent Hance)
yawn, Tech has to hang its hat on “getting the most out of players” because they have no other option
yawn, A&M beat you by 40 last year and two times this year
yawn, Tech has never won a Big 12 Title in ANY mens sport
yawn, Tech only cares about beating A&M or UT
yawn, Tech fans say “we care” but do not show up to watch basketball games (the upper deck is always empty)
yawn, Tech is broke in the athletic department (because they try to spend with A&M and UT and do not have the money)
WRECK A TITLE
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Singletary has game, man! He reminds me of Crabtree – of Sammy Morris – of Calvin Riggs- of Rodney Allison. Unless there are two or three of you you’d better stand away. Oh, yeah, the Aggies had five – what can I say?
Of course all the poor Aggies are now shouting,*%$&*##$, ANYBODY BUT TECH!!!! Oh, yeah, that was really good guys! Way to be in charge coach Pat. This is something to build on!!!!!
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WOW! Amazing game! GO RAIDERS!
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As an outsider from South Dakota – I subscribe to ESPN Full Court so that I can watch Texas Tech play. I am excited with the progress of this years team and the prospects of the future. I believe Pat Knight will be a successful coach. Go Raiders!!!
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you’ve made my point Jeff… UT & the aggs play with loaded wallets… tech does not…. so we HAVE to get more out of our players. they can’t get by on talent alone. texas, even winning as they do, are underachievers in regards to their potential. and AandM, geez, should i even start?? more money than god, yet they run top 10 national talent into the ground every year. i like fighting from an underdog position. fine by me. it’s even better winning as the underdog, which is a fading trend AandM presents less & less of a challenge every year. When tech owns the edge in three athletic series (men’s & women’s bball, football in 3 more years) what will they say then? i’m sure baseball will become the primary focus. and since this is the same conversation we’ve had for years, i’ll throw out another YAAAAAAAAAAWN.
suck it aggs.
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Raider P…..you’re an idiot! And I mean idiot!!
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Thank ya there Ranger:
(now that we can go on talking about the great win and Mizzou tonight without a smart mouth interuption)
Yeah I believe we can win this whole thing.It may seem a little far fetched but I think we can beat anyone.We beat Kansas,and then we only lost to Iowa by two…The team is playing with allot of heart and soul.
I heard ESPN today say that TECH was playing some good ball.And to not sell them short.I just have a good feeling about these next three days.If not yeah there is allot to build on.Only being Knights first year,you have to take the good with the bad.
But it ain’t over yet…….
Knight has done a great job…..he is growing as a coach….and that is to be admired!
“WRECK EM”
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