Pat Knight was willing to let John Roberson change the plan with less than a minute left and a 2-point margin in Tech’s biggest game so far this season, but his concession came with one warning.

Texas Tech's John Roberson, shown being fouled by Washington's Abdul Gaddy during their game Thursday night, took on added responsibility as the Red Raiders attempted to upset No. 12 Washington.

“I said ‘Well, it’s on you guys, then,’” Knight said.

Roberson, confident No. 12 Washington would expect Tech to zone, accepted his coach’s warning. He stepped onto the court, read his man’s eyes and swiftly swatted away the Huskies’ best chance at taking the lead, running his steal back for the fastbreak layup that sealed Tech’s 99-92 win.

He challenged his coach with the game on the line, not out of disrespect but from some deep sense of urgency. He said afterwards that he didn’t really try to lead the team in scoring or win the game for Tech, but knew that as an upperclassman and the man who calls the plays on the court, he had to show up if Tech wanted a prayer of winning.

“I just wanted to win,” Roberson said. “I was just trying to will my teammates to do whatever we could to win the game.”

Roberson isn’t new to making decisions with games on the line; he’s been Tech’s starting point guard since his freshman season in 2007 and became a captain as a sophomore.

His actions Thursday drew praise even from Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar, who called him “the difference in the ball game.”

“John Roberson played about as good a game as you can play as a point guard,” Romar said. “He ran his team. He took his opportunities when they were there, and he created for his teammates. He was an outstanding lead guard.”

Roberson’s 25 points outdid his previous season-high by nine. His spot-on free-throw shooting improved his season total to 27-of-28.

Roberson said he knew coming into the game that Washington had athleticism and talent Tech might struggle to match. The plan was to exert heavy pressure defense, making the Huskies uncomfortable and hopefully creating a turnover or two at the right times.

It worked.

“That’s how we got our lead in the first half,” Roberson said. “We were getting steals, we were in the passing lane.”

Knight said Roberson knew from scouting Washington that Isaiah Thomas ranked among the top point guards in the country. So the junior from Plano approached the game as an offensive challenge.

Swingman Brad Reese accepted responsibility for guarding Thomas. Roberson took it upon himself to outscore him and did; Thomas had 18 points, two less than his season average and seven less than Roberson.

“John wants to prove he’s on the same level of guards like that,” Knight said. “I really didn’t worry about him being prepared, I just worried about him pressing a little bit, trying too hard. You’ve got to consider him one of the better guards in the country.”

For now he’ll have to settle for being one of the best in the Big 12. Through Thursday’s games Roberson is fourth in the conference with 5.1 assists per game, first with a free-throw percentage of 96.4, and seventh averaging 1.9 steals.

He admits he’s taken the last two seasons a little personally; he said after the game that he does not want to return to the days when Tech struggled throughout the season and never expected much once conference play began.

“I’ve been here two years and we’ve had losing seasons, and I don’t want to go back to that,” he said.

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