Tech (15-1) will face No. 17 Oklahoma at 10 a.m. today Due to inclement weather expected in Montgomery, the match will be played indoors at Auburn University.

After winning the doubles point against Notre Dame, the Red Raiders won five of six first sets in singles play. Tech’s top three players – Raony Carvalho, Gonzalo Escobar and Rafael Garcia – finished first, sweeping their opponents to seal Tech’s victory.

Tech already owns one tournament title this year after capturing the HEB Tournament of Champions crown earlier this month. The team is riding a 13-match winning streak.

• Softball

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Texas Tech won both of its softball games on the second day of the USF The Game Tournament, beating Florida A&M and Towson at Eddie C. Moore Park.

Tech pitcher Ashly Jacobs (10-0) struck out nine in the 7-2 win against Florida A&M, allowing just one earned run and four hits in a complete game. Logan Hall, Mikey Kenney and Raven Richardson each hit home runs for the Red Raiders (28-3), and they combined for seven hits and six RBIs.

Holley Gentsch homered in the 6-2 win against Towson, and she and Jennifer Lee drove in two runs apiece for Tech. Ashley Brokeshoulder pitched a complete game, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out two.

• Track and field

Texas Tech started its outdoor season by winning a combined three events at meets in Fort Worth and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Senior Ozie Okolie won the hammer throw at the Horned Frog Invitational, and her mark of 197 feet, 4 inches ranks second in the NCAA this year. Okolie also finished second in the discus.

Freshman Julian Wruck also had a pair of top-two finishes in Fort Worth, winning the discus and placing second in the hammer throw. Wruck’s mark of 190-5 in the discus was Tech’s best in five years and the third-best in the nation this season, and he beat Big 12 Conference champion Luke Bryant of Oklahoma.

Running for Puerto Rico at the Carolina Spring Break Camp Classic in San Juan, Tech sophomore Jamele Mason won the men’s 400-meter hurdles. His time of 51.32 seconds is the second-fastest in the NCAA this year.

Brodie Greene’s RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the eighth sent Texas Tech to a 5-4 loss – its seventh in a row – and secured the Big 12 Conference series for the 23rd-ranked Aggies on a miserably cold and windy night at Olsen Field.

All five runs scored by the Aggies (15-3, 2-0 in Big 12) came with two outs. A&M came into the series hitting .387 as a team with two outs, up more than 100 points from last year’s average.

“We had a hard time putting them away,” said Tech head coach Dan Spencer, whose squad falls to 8-12 on the year and 0-2 in Big 12 play. “I thought we did a lot of things well as far as staying in the game, getting a knock here and a knock there. They’re a good club and they’re tougher at home. They play with a lot of intensity and they’re loose, and if you make a pitch and get it up a bit or out over the plate, they’ll put a good swing on it.”

With two outs in the eighth, Scott Arthur started the rally with a single to left off Tech reliever Jay Johnson. On a 2-2 pitch, Greene laced one just inside the line down right field to score Arthur, but the fireworks didn’t stop there.

After Arthur crossed home plate, a skirmish ensued between Johnson, Arthur and A&M designated hitter Joe Patterson. No punches were thrown or shoves exchanged, but both Johnson and Patterson were ejected as the benches emptied.

The preceding run was enough to make a winner out of reliever Michael Wacha (3-0), who allowed one unearned run in three innings with three strikeouts. Johnson, who relieved starter Bobby Doran in the sixth, took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year. He scattered five hits and a walk and struck out three.

“Everyone’s frustrated, especially in Big 12,” said catcher Kevin Whitehead, whose two-run home run in the second tied the game after A&M had taken the early lead. “It’s a game of inches and that’s what it came down to, a couple of little things didn’t go our way that we didn’t do right and it ended up hurting us.”

Doran left after five and was on the losing side after a bases-loaded walk gave A&M a 4-3 lead in the fifth.

The Red Raiders were able to chase A&M starter Ross Stripling after just 22/3 innings. Stripling surrendered three runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts, but relievers Jake Feckley and Esteban Uriegas kept Tech from doing more damage until turning it over to Wacha in the seventh.

A&M’s uncanny ability for two-out hitting led to a 2-0 lead in the second on a fielder’s choice and two-out RBI hits by Adam Smith and Tyler Naquin. Unlike Friday, though, Tech was able to answer.

A leadoff single by Taylor Ashby and Whitehead’s third home run of the season tied the game at 2-2. Two outs later, a hit batter and a bloop double by Michael Reed gave Tech the 3-2 advantage.

It stayed that way until Doran coughed up the lead in the fifth. He got the first two outs, but gave up a triple and an RBI bloop single by Patterson that Reed appeared to lose in the lights. After a Caleb Shofner double, consecutive walks to Kenny Jackson and Kevin Gonzalez put the Aggies back in front 4-3.

“We got big hits all night long,” A&M coach Rob Childress said. “I was really proud of the way we got after it tonight. We had great intensity. They were about to get through a clean inning with two outs and nobody on. Just like that, we string four or five great at-bats together.”

Tech caught a break to tie it in the seventh. With one out and a runner at first, Whitehead drew a walk. One out later, Jamodrick McGruder sent a high fly to deep right-center that came off the glove of Smith, allowing Ashby to score from second with the tying run.

A&M had a chance to retake the lead on a pair of one-out singles, but on a bouncer up the middle by Smith, shortstop Joey Kenworthy turned the double play to end the threat and keep the game scoreless before the Aggies took the lead in the eighth.

“We need to find some guys who will step up in the middle of our order and get us a big knock,” Spencer said. “We get one big knock in the middle of our lineup and other guys will follow and get us going. I was proud of how hard we played.

“We’re scuffling. We’re trying to get over the hump and we’re trying to get over the hump on the road against a good club. I like the way we compete. I like the way we get after it. We’re close, but we’ve got to get over the hump.”

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TEXAS TECH/A&M’s Greene smacks triple, scoring game-winning run

TEXAS A&M 5, TEXAS TECH 4

Texas Tech Texas A&M

ab r h bi ab r h bi

McGruder 2b 4 0 1 1 Collazo 2b 5 0 0 0 Kenworthy ss 3 1 0 0 Arthur cf 4 1 1 0

Reed lf 4 0 1 1 Greene ss 5 1 3 1

Barnes rf 4 0 1 0 Patterson dh 4 1 1 1

LeJeune dh 4 0 0 0 Parsons dh 0 0 0 0

Mayo 1b 4 0 0 0 Shofner 3b 4 0 2 0

Ashby cf 4 2 1 0 Jackson 1b 2 1 1 0

Whitehead c 3 1 1 2 Juengel 1b 2 0 1 0

Berry 3b 1 0 0 0 Gonzalez c 3 0 1 1

Altobelli 3b 2 0 0 0 Smith lf-rf 4 1 2 1

Wood rf 0 0 0 0

Naquin rf 2 0 1 1

Hinojosa lf 2 0 0 0

Totals 33 4 5 4 Totals 37 5 13 5

Texas Tech 003 000 100 – 4 5 1

Texas A&M 020 020 01x – 5 13 1

E-Kenworthy (6), Smith (7). DP-Texas Tech 1. LOB-Texas Tech 4, Texas A&M 13. 2B-Reed (9), Shofner (8), Smith (1), Naquin (2). 3B-Greene 2 (5). HR-Whitehead (3). SB-Barnes (5), Arthur (8), Parsons (1), Smith (2).

IP H R ER BB SO

Texas Tech

Doran 5 8 4 4 2 6

Johnson (L, 1-3) 22/3 5 1 1 1 3

Farrar 1/3 0 0 0 1 1

Texas A&M

Stripling 22/3 4 3 3 0 2

Feckley 3 1 0 0 0 2

Uriegas 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

Wacha (W, 3-0) 3 0 1 0 1 3

HBP-by Stripling (Kenworthy), by Farrar (Shofner).

WP-Doran (2), Stripling (3). PB-Gonzalez (1). U-Randy Bruns, Mike Morris, Randy Wetzel. T-3:12. A-3,195. Records: Texas Tech 8-12, 0-2; Texas A&M 15-3, 2-0.

Before Saturday’s game, an official from the National Invitation Tournament called Texas Tech coach Pat Knight with a warning.

“If you get two thousand people in the building,” he said, “that’s pretty good for these things.”

Tech’s attendance was nearly triple that. Despite snow and spring break, the Red Raiders drew 5,465 fans to United Spirit Arena for their second-round matchup against Jacksonville.

Knight said it made the difference in pulling out a 69-64 win.

Texas Tech head coach Pat Knight salutes the crowd with his guns up after the Red Raiders defeated Jacksonville. (Geoffrey McAllister/Avalanche-Journal)

Jacksonville's Chris Edwards, left, fouls Texas Tech's Mike Singletary as he pulls him to the floor during the second half of their second round NIT college basketball game Saturday, March 20, 2010, in Lubbock, Texas. Saturday, March 20, 2010 (Photo by Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

“I don’t think we would have won without them,” Knight said. “The atmosphere was great. They were into the game the whole time.”

It helped that the smaller-than-normal crowd sat closer to the court. During regular-season games Tech monitors personal seat license seats and keeps general admission ticket holders from moving into them. The result is often large empty areas in the lower level.

Because the NIT is a separate event, though, season-ticket holders had first dibs at their regular seats. Then other fans were assigned the empty spots around them.

After Tech’s lackluster start against Jacksonville, forward Brad Reese said he could see a difference when the crowd saw the team taking back control.

“The first half we started off really sluggish, but in the second half we got some steals, hit some shots, and the crowd got really into it,” Reese said. “That’s when we got into an offensive rhythm.”

Knight had an idea that might happen. Plenty of times throughout the Big 12 Conference season Tech held substantial first-half leads on the road, only to watch them disappear as opposing fans energized an arena.

It happened at Texas, Texas A&M and Nebraska. So on Saturday when it seemed possible to be on the receiving end of all that support, Knight used the idea to motivate his team.

He couldn’t have asked for a better setup than D’walyn Roberts’ dunk to give Tech its first lead with 14:51 left in the game.

“I told them at the timeout, ‘If we can take the lead this place is going to go nuts,’ ” Knight said. “The way we did it was even better.”

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D’walyn Roberts thought about holding onto the rebound and letting Jacksonville commit a desperate foul in the final seconds Saturday. Then he changed his mind.

Roberts fired the ball down court to David Tairu, who slammed it through the net to seal a 69-64 victory in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at United Spirit Arena.

“You have two teams that it’s a privilege for them to be in this tournament and they played like it,” Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game, and they gave us everything that they had.”

Eighth-seeded Jacksonville arrived in Lubbock still high from its 67-66 win against top seed Arizona State in the opening round. The Dolphins played such aggressive defense in the first half they held the Red Raiders scoreless through five minutes and had an 11-point lead less than seven minutes in.

Texas Tech's David Tairu yells after a big dunk in the closing seconds of the second half against Jacksonville, during their second round NIT college basketball game Saturday, March 20, 2010, in Lubbock, Texas. Saturday, March 20, 2010 (Photo by Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech's David Tairu dunks the ball in front of Jacksonville's Ben Smith in the closing seconds of their NIT game Saturday at United Spirit Arena. Tech won, 69-64, advancing to the third round of the NIT. (Geoffrey McAllister/Avalanche-Journal)

Texas Tech was so passive by comparison Knight didn’t even bother to chew them out at halftime.

“I have trust in these guys,” he said. “That wasn’t us in the first half.”

Texas Tech started the second half on a 12-6 run to close Jacksonville’s lead to one point. The Raiders took their first lead of the game on a fastbreak dunk by Roberts that seemed to drain Jacksonville of its momentum.

Roberts finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and his coaches’ praise for not only the defensive rebound that kept Tech in control, but for his ability to recover after battling a bone bruise in his right foot for most of the season.

“I’m happy for D’walyn, to end like he has these last two, three weeks,” Knight said. “The poor kid had a great preseason then he hurts his foot and didn’t practice the first four, six weeks.”

But it was Brad Reese who stole the show. Reese, a native of Laurel Hill, Fla., was recruited by Jacksonville as a high school student. He finished with 19 points, one shy of his career-high, and 10 rebounds to lead Tech.

Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren said Roberts and Reese, who together rebounded more Jacksonville shots than the Dolphins did, decimated his team’s offense.

“They’ve got some really long, athletic guys,” Warren said. “Reese and Roberts are very long and athletic, and when our guys kicked it out they did a good job contesting shots.”

Ben Smith, who hit the game-winner against Arizona State, had 17 points to lead the Dolphins. Tech’s defense revolved around eliminating the sharp-shooting senior; it wanted to force Jacksonville to drive to the bucket instead of draining outside jumpers.

The plan worked effectively enough to hold the Dolphins to 22.2 percent 3-point shooting.

“I was trying to be a little physical with him, try to make him uncomfortable,” Tech point guard John Roberson said. “They set a lot of ball screens for him. He’s quick with the ball and he can shoot.

“We were just trying to take the ball out of his hands as much as possible and make other people beat us.”

Instead, Tech used its defense to stay alive and its athleticism to beat Jacksonville. That agile post play earned the team a third NIT game – Tech plays at Mississippi at 7 p.m. Tuesday – and a chance to move on to the tournament’s final four.

“That’s the stuff it’s sad you don’t hear about on SportsCenter,” Knight said, “but from a coaches’ standpoint, when you get guys who can score some buckets but also give you double-digit rebounds, I’ll take those guys any time.”

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TEXAS TECH/After late-season swoon, Red Raiders taking off in postseason

Texas Tech 69, Jacksonville 64

JACKSONVILLE 64

FG FT REB

Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP

Cohn 21 2-8 0-0 2 5 1 1 4

Smith 40 6-17 4-6 0 2 0 1 17

Hardy 36 6-10 0-0 0 5 4 1 12

Alston 16 1-2 2-2 0 0 3 0 4

Colbert 25 5-10 0-0 0 3 5 2 13

Powell 5 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0

Edwards 24 0-5 4-4 0 3 1 1 4

Galvin 21 4-8 0-2 4 8 3 2 8

Powell 12 1-3 0-0 4 8 3 0 2

1 2 Totals 200 25-64 10-14 11 36 21 8 64

TEXAS TECH 69

FG FT REB

Min. M-A M-A O T PF A TP

Roberts 36 4-8 2-3 5 9 1 2 10

Cohadarevic 16 0-5 1-2 2 3 2 1 1

Singletary 37 4-10 4-6 1 8 2 0 13

Roberson 40 4-9 4-6 2 7 1 3 14

Okorie 18 2-7 1-1 0 1 4 2 5

Reese 26 5-11 6-9 2 10 3 1 19

Tairu 23 3-9 1-2 3 5 2 1 7

Lewandowski 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0

3 4 Totals 200 22-59 19-29 18 47 15 10 69

Jacksonville 35 29 – 64

Texas Tech 28 41 – 69

Records: Jacksonville 20-13, Texas Tech 19-15. Shooting percentages: Jacksonville 39.1% FG, 22.2% 3-pt. FG, 71.4% FT; Texas Tech 37.3% FG, 50% 3-pt. FG, 65.5% FT. 3-point goals: Jacksonville 4-18 (Cohn 0-2, Smith 1-7, Colbert 3-4, Edwards 0-2, Galvin 0-3); Texas Tech 6-12 (Singletary 1-2, Roberson 2-4, Okorie 0-1, Reese 3-4, Tairu 0-1). Steals: Jacksonville 8 (Edwards 3, Colbert 2, Smith, Hardy, Galvin); Texas Tech 6 (Roberts, Cohadarevic, Singletary, Okorie, Reese, Tairu). Blocked shots: Jacksonville 3 (Hardy 2, Edwards); Texas Tech 3 (Tairu, Reese, Singletary). Turnovers: Jacksonville 11, Texas Tech 15. Total fouls: Jacksonville 21, Texas Tech 15. Fouled out: Jacksonville, Colbert. Technical fouls: None. Officials: Terry Davis, Randy Heimerman, Michael Irvin. Attendance: 5,465.

Reminded of that when he showed up to do a clinic lecture in jeans and a pullover shirt, Tuberville explained: “This is football.’’

Finally, this week, Tuberville will be back to on-field football for the first time since 2008. At 3 p.m. Monday, he opens spring practice coaching his new team, one that went 9-4 and won a bowl game last season.

Though yet to oversee his first Tech practice, Tuberville started to put his stamp on the Red Raiders with February’s off-season workouts. He said he and new strength and conditioning coach Joe Walker — with whom he worked at Auburn — share a philosophy that football is played from the waist down.

“I really don’t know what (Tech players) did (in the past), but we’re working more on the lower body in the weight room,’’ he said. “They were more upper body. We’re doing a lot more agilities and flexibility stuff.’’
Tuberville wants to infuse the Red Raiders with speed as quickly as possible, especially on defense.

“You can’t play with guys that can’t run. On defense, you can’t,’’ he said.

This spring, Tuberville and new defensive coordinator James Willis plan to implement the 3-4 as the team’s base defense, reasoning that it’ll give the Red Raiders a better way to counter the Big 12 Conference’s spread passing offenses.

“I’ve been a 4-3 guy most of my life,’’ Tuberville said, “and I’ve coached both of them 50-50, but I really like the four-man front. But you have to be adaptable to the offenses that you play: People are going to more spread offenses.

“You’ve got to (use) more three-man front, because it allows you to have another speed guy on the field. One of those linebackers, instead of (being) a defensive end type, he’s a stand-up guy who can rush and he can cover passes.’’

From a personnel standpoint, the Red Raiders’ biggest rebuilding job is on the defensive line, where five of the six players who saw regular action last season completed their eligibility. Gone are defensive ends Brandon
Sharpe and Daniel Howard, who combined for 23 sacks, as well as tackles Ra’Jon Henley and Richard Jones, who were in the rotation from their freshman year on.

Now the defensive front consists of tackle Colby Whitlock and a cast of unproven players.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I like our d-linemen,’’ Tuberville said. “We’ve got some good young guys that can move. But there’s a lot of difference between agility drills and putting pads on and making plays. Not that they can’t. I’m anxious to see what they can do.’’

Tuberville likes what he has in the secondary, which loses only cornerback Jamar Wall. Starting safeties Franklin Mitchem and Cody Davis return. So does cornerback LaRon Moore, and sub-package players such as Julius Howard, D.J. Johnson and Will Ford.

Even so, the new defensive staff will still spend spring making their own evaluations and answering some questions for themselves. Among them are whether the Red Raiders can play more man-to-man coverage or man with help behind it to run some zone blitzes. Tuberville would like to do both, but he’ll decide whether it suits his personnel.

“Bottom line, it depends on your corners — how much confidence they’ve got in themselves,’’ Tuberville said. “Can you put one out there on a guy like (Texas’ Jordan) Shipley and one over there on another guy and say, ‘Y’all got ’em. Everybody move in, and we’re going to play nine-man football?’’

The Red Raiders’ primary chores on offense are replacing the right side of the line — Marlon Winn, Brandon Carter and Shawn Byrnes were seniors — and settling the Taylor Potts-Steven Sheffield quarterback debate that waged for the last two-thirds of the 2009 season.

New offensive coordinator Neal Brown said he’s watched video of every pass play from last year and is impressed with both Potts and Sheffield.

Brown said he spent most of the time looking at the quarterbacks’ fundamentals “and not really judging them.’’
That’s what the next month is for.

“I’m giving both a clean slate — whoever does the best in the spring and through the summer,’’ Brown said. “I’m impressed with both of them. I think they’re both smart kids. I think they’re both good leaders. They’ve been really good leaders in our winter workouts.’’

Spring football
March practices: 22, 24, 26, 27, 29 and 31.
April practices: 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14 and 16.
Practice times: 3 p.m. each day
Spring game: 1 p.m. April 17
Record in 2009: 9-4
Last game: beat Michigan State 41-31 in Alamo Bowl
Returning starters: 8 offense, 6 defense, punter, kicker
Key losses: OT Marlon Winn, OG Brandon Carter, C Shawn Byrnes, SE Edward Britton, DE Daniel Howard, DE Brandon Sharpe, DT Ra’Jon Henley, DT Richard Jones, SLB Marlon Williams, CB Jamar Wall

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Roberts fired the ball downcourt to David Tairu, who slammed it through the net in the game’s final seconds to seal a 69-64 victory in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. With the win Texas Tech advances to play Ole Miss next week.

Brad Reese finished with 19 points, one shy of his career-high, and 10 rebounds to lead Tech. John Roberson added 14 points.

Ben Smith had 17 points to lead the Dolphins.

Tech is now 19-15. The time and date of the next game have not been announced.

Brad Reese leads Texas Tech with 12 points in 13 minutes on the court. Lehmon Colbert has 10 points for Jacksonville.

The winner of this game will face Mississippi next week for a chance to play in the NIT Final Four in New York City.

Jacksonville will be rested and gaining confidence when it arrives at United Spirit Arena today to plays at Texas Tech in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The eighth-seeded Dolphins (20-12) will look for their second upset in five days. JU stunned Arizona State on Tuesday, when senior guard Ben Smith hit a 24-foot bank shot with 1.4 seconds left to give the Dolphins a 67-66 win.

Fifth-seeded Tech (18-15) routed fourth-seeded Seton Hall 87-69 in its first-round game.

Jacksonville's Ayron Hardy, left and Travis Cohn celebrate their 67-66 defeat of Arizona State in a first-round NIT game Tuesday in Tempe, Ariz. They play at Texas Tech today.

Jacksonville's Ben Smith, left, shoots against Arizona State's Ty Abbott during the first half of a first-round NIT college NCAA basketball game on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

“We’re just excited to still be playing right now,” JU coach Cliff Warren said. “Texas Tech will be a tough opponent. Bobby Knight set the foundation for the program and his son Pat, has picked up where he left off.”

Jacksonville, which shared the Atlantic Sun regular season title but lost in the conference tournament, has won several tough road games (Arizona State, Central Florida, Campbell) this season.

“The buzz around our program is extremely high right now,” Warren said. “The support from the city and our fans has been nothing short than amazing. We want to keep this momentum going and see how far we can go.

“While the win over Arizona State was very nice. We’re not satisfied. We’re still working to get better and try to win this game and advance in the tournament.”

The other two times Jacksonville won its first-round game in the NIT, the Dolphins advanced to the semifinals. But that was a long time ago in 1972 and 1974. JU lost its semifinal game both times.

Smith, who holds the school career records for steals, assists, free throws made, games played and minutes played, will finish as the second-leading scorer in JU history. He’s scored 1,954 points in 124 games and trails only Ralph Tiner by 230 points.

Christine Hyde scored a career-high 16 points and Marissa Ashton racked up 11 – all in the first half – to snap the Lady Raiders’ four-game losing streak and send them to the second round of the tournament at Wyoming.

“It’s like I tell them,” coach Kristy Curry said, “their 2010-11 season started this week. We’ve got to understand that the future is incredibly bright if we make it bright. I’m really proud of them for finding a way to win. That’s something that they all bring, that winning mentality. They expect to win.”

Ashton hasn’t seen as much playing time since Kierra Mallard returned from suspension on Feb. 21. But the 6-foot forward returned to the game with less than eight minutes left in the first half and scored nine points, including a 3-pointer that instigated Tech’s rally.

Hyde scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half. She was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and grabbed seven rebounds.

Since becoming a full-time starter on Feb. 10, Hyde is averaging 7.6 points per game. Her performance Thursday was no surprise to Houston assistant coach Wade Scott, who was filling in for Joe Curl. Curl was hospitalized Thursday because of a recurring heart ailment.

“I watched Christine play when she was in high school,” Scott said. “I knew what she was capable of doing. To her credit she came out here and had a great night. She went to the basket, got fouled, put some of our players on the bench. She did what she normally does.”

Second chances

When Tech returned to practice after its disappointing 59-51 loss to Kansas State at the Big 12 tournament, Curry circled two columns on the box score: points off turnovers and second-chance points.

Those two deficiencies had been at the heart of Tech’s struggles during the final two weeks of the season.

The Lady Raiders out-scored the Cougars 24-7 on second chance points after having failed to even reach double figures in the category in their four previous games, all losses.

Tech’s 24 second-chance points were a season high. The Lady Raiders collected 16 offensive rebounds, four of which came from Jordan Barncastle.

The sophomore forward played her best game since returning from a nasal fracture she suffered after being punched by Brittney Griner on March 3. Barncastle was no longer wearing the mask she needed last week at the Big 12 tournament and scored 12 points with six rebounds, one shy of a season high.

She also made some strong moves to the basket in collecting her three close-range field goals.

Murphree may be out

Senior Jordan Murphree missed her first game of the season Thursday with recurring back pain that has troubled her for the better part of the season.

Curry said there is no timeline on her return to the lineup, and Murphree might have to sit out the next game of the WNIT if the pain hasn’t subsided.

“The last three weeks her back has really bothered her and she’s continued to fight through it,” Curry said. “She’s in a real fix. She’s had a lot of problems the last three weeks. She hasn’t used it as an excuse and neither have we, but you can tell she’s been playing straight up and been pretty stiff.

“It’s something she had trouble with over last season and continued to hamper her at certain times with certain movements. She can’t even bend over and tie her shoe right now.”

Murphree, who averages 12.3 points a game, scored five against Missouri on March 7 and eight points against Kansas State on March 11.

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“We’re two wins away,” the Texas Tech basketball coach told his team. “Let’s get to New York.”

That’s been the Red Raiders’ goal since dropping out of the race for an NCAA tournament spot; the National Invitation Tournament holds its semifinal and championship rounds at Madison Square Garden, and Tech wants to be one of the four teams in that field.

It looked like a long shot Sunday, when Tech learned it was a five seed and would have to play a road game against Big East member Seton Hall. By beating the Pirates 87-69 and earning today’s home game against eighth-seeded Jacksonville, Tech got the win it needed to advance and the momentum to believe it can advance even farther.

Texas Tech's John Roberson, right, catches the ball over Colorado's Nate Tomlinson during their game March 10 in Kansas City, Mo. Winning that game 82-67 gave the Red Raiders momentum that helped them defeat Seton Hall on Tuesday to advance to today's NIT second round.

“I feel like we’ve had (momentum) for the past couple of weeks, beating Colorado then playing well against Kansas and beating Seton Hall,” forward Mike Singletary said. “We’ve got it back.”

Fearing its 101-90 loss at Colorado on March 3 would come to define its season, Tech dedicated itself to beating the Buffaloes in the Big 12 tournament’s opening round and remaining an NIT candidate. The Raiders accomplished that goal, then played well in an 80-68 second-round loss to Kansas before beating Seton Hall less than 48 hours after learning of the matchup.

Now Tech returns to United Spirit Arena for a 2 p.m. game against Jacksonville. It will be the first game since that loss in Boulder, Colo., in which Tech is not an underdog road team.

While the Raiders seem to thrive in situations where they stand to prove pundits wrong, Knight said this game alone is not enough to drain them of that hunger.

“How could our ego be big?” he said. “We got beat up pretty good for three weeks. These kids are just happy to keep on playing.”

With the hope for a New York City trip planted in their minds, Knight said he will change his theme when addressing the team before today’s game. He wants the players to look at this as a senior night re-do, in which seniors Nick Okorie and Darko Cohadarevic can avenge the 86-68 loss to Baylor in their final guaranteed home game March 2.

Okorie and Cohadarevic have both played perhaps the best games of their Tech careers in the past weeks. Now they will get the chance to leave their home court with a win.

“I wouldn’t say we have more to play for,” Okorie said, “but seeing as how this is our last couple games, we don’t want to lose.”

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