Mike Singletary still can’t quite capture what happened when Kansas arrived in Lubbock last winter. Texas Tech had traveled to Lawrence, Kan., a season earlier and been spanked 109-51 on the Jayhawks’ senior night. But on March 4, 2009, it was the reigning national champion who left with the loss.

“It was kind of like, OK, they’re coming to our house and they’re one of the best teams in the country,” Singletary said. “Once we came out there, we knew we could play with them. We were knocking down every shot. It was crazy.”

Texas Tech senior Mike Singletary pulls down a rebound over junior Wally Dunn during practice last week at United Spirit Arena. (Merissa Ferguson/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Singletary says the elation of that victory was soured by the reality that Tech was piecing together a great season just as that season was ending; the Red Raiders went 2-13 leading up to that game, but after beating Kansas finished the regular season with a 2-point loss at Iowa State before nipping Texas A&M 88-83 to advance in the Big 12 tournament.

He hopes the Raiders pick up where they left off, despite the nearly eight-month hiatus.

“We’ve got to be motivated,” Singletary said. “We’ve got to be hungry. I think we figured out what it was like to win some of those big games last year. We love that feeling of beating Kansas, beating A&M. We’ve got to be hungry and keep it rolling.”

The 6-foot-6 small forward certainly did his part to keep things going as smoothly as possible in 2008-09. He issued no complaints when coach Pat Knight called him in for a one-on-one meeting early in the season and asked if Singletary would give up his starting spot to give the team some depth off the bench.

Singletary started 13 of 29 games his freshman season, averaging 7.3 points per game. As a sophomore he had just four starts, averaging 11.1 points each game.

“I think he’s a born starter, so him coming off the bench messed with his confidence a little bit,” point guard John Roberson said.

Yet Singletary typically played six more minutes a game as a sophomore than as a freshman, the fifth-highest total on the team.

“He was just concerned that he’d get his playing time, and he really took one for the team,” coach Pat Knight said. “I think it showed. He ended up (playing) really well in the last couple months of the season, especially the A&M game.”

Tech entered the Big 12 tournament with a 12-17 record and the knowledge that the only way to lengthen the season and possibly make the NCAA tournament would require as many wins as it could string together.

Singletary almost single-handedly made it happen. He set a Big 12 tournament scoring record in Tech’s opening round game against the Aggies, dropping 43 points. Tech lagged 21 points at the half, but Singletary led the Raiders to an 88-83 overtime win.

“We lost some games we shouldn’t have lost,” Singletary said, “but I think towards the end, the season finished out as well as I could have imagined.”

Now he’s back in the starting lineup, ready to smooth his team’s transition to the new season. Knight said Tech’s much-improved athleticism should help his returning players get more out of practice sessions; where last year lacked depth, this year’s roster is loaded with Big 12-calibre talent. While the Raider reserves may not quite be able to simulate the skills of Kansas’ Sherron Collins or Texas’ Dexter Pittman, they can push the starters to be better prepared for conference play.

“We just haven’t had the support for them overall to help them out, help them along,” Knight said. “Now we have that.”

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