With Knight ill, Tech men fall at Centenary

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Without head coach Bob Knight on the bench for the second half, Texas Tech built a 14-point lead in the first five minutes.

After that, the Red Raiders reverted back to the way they played the first three games of the season in a 70-66 loss to Centenary on Saturday in front of 1,112 at the CenturyTel Center.

Travis Hill converted a layup with 15 seconds remaining, giving the Gents a 68-66 advantage.

Trevor Cook missed a 3-point goal with five seconds remaining and after Nick Stallings grabbed the rebound, Tech was forced to foul.

Stallings converted the two free throws to provide the margin of victory.

Knight

"We broke open a good lead, and then it's the tendency of our kids to break open a big lead and then relax," said Tech head coach Pat Knight, who took over on the bench after Bob Knight left at halftime due to illness. "They think the other team is just going to keel over and die for you, and that's just not going to happen. It's been a hard thing for us. ... The guys kind of get satisfied with themselves, and I think that's what happened."

Prior to leaving, Bob Knight delivered a message to the Centenary student section as the team left the floor in the first half.

The message was echoed by Centenary head coach Rob Flaska after the game.

Knight told the fans Tech was the only Big 12 Conference school that would play the Gents on the road, and the fans should respect that. The message was in response to fans making comments to Knight as the team passed the student section on its way to the locker room.

"Coach Knight is one of the guys who will come and play at Centenary," Flaska said. "There's not a lot of coaches that would do that. I want to thank him again. My hat's off that he would do that. ... He didn't have to do that. He did, and he's my idol."

Flaska also said the atompshere at the CenturyTel Center, home of Shreveport's minor-league hockey and arenafootball2 teams, is different than when the Gents play on campus because alcohol is sold at the off-campus venue.

"Maybe some kids got beyond what they need to and my apologies to Coach Knight for their behavior, to Texas Tech and the program," Fleska said. "Our fans need to have more tact."

Pat Knight said the behavior by Centenary fans is nothing different than what Tech experiences when it plays on the road.

"It's always above and beyond. It's just ridiculous, wherever we go," Pat Knight said. "It just adds to the stuff all week, the comments, people make comments before they hear both sides. It just wears on you. Plus, (Bob Knight's) been sick since we were in Alaska. It just gets old, having to deal with that stuff. I feel for him because he's been down, he's not a young guy anymore. I'm more worried about his health than anything else."

No matter who was on the bench, Tech didn't play very well for most of the game, something it had done at the start of the season but seemed to cure in Anchorage.

The Gents scored on a four-point play on their first possession when Stallings hit a 3-pointer and was fouled, and Centenary scored 11 of the game's first 13 points.

The Red Raiders tied the game at 17 and again at 25 before taking their first lead at the 5:47 mark of the first half.

Tech held a 35-32 advantage at the break despite committing nine turnovers.

After increasing the lead to 49-35 at the 15:32 mark of the second half, Tech only scored two baskets in the next four minutes as the Gents rallied.

Centenary went on a 19-4 run and regained the lead at the 9:02 mark, 54-53, and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the game.

"... This was a weird situation, and I'm (upset) about a lot of things," Pat Knight said. "The situation I was thrown into, and the way the teams come out ... It's a surreal situation to be in. I've never been in this situation, it's strange. I don't know many people that have been thrown into a situation like that.

"The kids have got to show up to play, no matter who is on the jersey. It's strange, it's like squeezing blood from a rock. It's tough to get kids motivated and you shouldn't have to do that. Everyone's got players, from Division III all the way to Division I, but sometimes kids don't realize that. ... We're a team that beat (then-No. 14) Gonzaga last week, and then we get beat down here. It's just a Jekyll and Hyde team."

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CENTENARY 70, TEXAS TECH 66

TEXAS TECH - Singletary 4-7 1-2 9, De Bem 0-1 0-0 0, Zeno 9-15 2-5 21, Voskuil 5-6 0-0 12, Burgess 1-6 4-6 6, Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Roberts 1-2 0-0 2, Roberson 4-11 0-0 9, Cook 1-5 0-0 2, Prince 1-2 0-2 2, Rizvic 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 26-56 10-19 66.

CENTENARY - Gatlin 5-11 1-1 13, L.Hill 3-7 1-2 7, Hamilton 5-13 0-0 12, Stallings 5-11 5-5 17, Adams 4-7 0-0 9, T.Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Cortez 2-2 0-0 6, Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Bonham 0-2 1-3 1, Glenn 2-3 1-2 5, Price 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 9-13 70.

Halftime-Texas Tech 35-32. 3-Point Goals-Texas Tech 4-13 (Voskuil 2-2, Zeno 1-2, Roberson 1-3, Roberts 0-1, Burgess 0-2, Cook 0-3), Centenary 9-18 (Cortez 2-2, Gatlin 2-2, Stallings 2-5, Hamilton 2-6, Adams 1-2, L.Hill 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Texas Tech 29 (Zeno 7), Centenary 40 (Glenn 9). Assists-Texas Tech 15 (Zeno 5), Centenary 12 (Adams 6). Total Fouls-Texas Tech 21, Centenary 21. A-1,112. Records: Texas Tech 5-3, Centenary 5-3.