Texas Tech Squeaks Out Another Win

The nation’s longest winning streak remains intact, barely.

Texas Tech made only six field goals outside the lane and had only two baskets over the final 6:47 as it held off Northern Illinois, 74-73, Friday night in the NCAA East Regional.

Jason Sasser had 21 points and seven rebounds as the third-seeded Red Raiders (29-1) won their 22nd consecutive game, their first in the NCAA tournament in 20 years.

“I don’t think we played particularly bad; we just didn’t shoot well,” Texas Tech Coach James Dickey said. “We got some great looks, but just couldn’t knock down shots.”

Chris Coleman scored 24 of his 28 in the second half to lead a furious late charge by Northern Illinois (20-10). But the rally slowed when he was called for a charge when the Huskies had the ball trailing by four with 47 seconds to go.

Coleman came back to make a three-point shot with 12.4 seconds remaining, but Sasser followed with two free throws to make it 74-70. Vaurice Patterson’s three-point basket with 1.3 seconds left the Huskies one point short in their bid to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time.

“Losing by one point is devastating,” Coleman said. “We’d rather Texas Tech blow us out by 30 than beat us by one point. We came so close, but yet still our season’s over.”

Coleman, coming off an MVP performance at the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament, was two for 11 in the first half. He made 10 of 13 in the second half, and had no explanation for the turnaround.

“I just missed the shots in the first half,” he said. “And I made them in the second half.”

Georgetown 93, Mississippi Valley State 56--Mississippi Valley State’s speed dissolved into impatience, and that translated into 24% shooting in the first half against the Hoyas.

Allen Iverson scored 31 points for Georgetown, the second-seeded team in the region.

“Today, you witnessed a good country whipping,” Mississippi Valley Coach Lafayette Stribling said. “They beat us in every phase of the game. We didn’t play well, but they understandably had something to do with that.”

The Delta Devils (22-7) trailed, 12-9, five minutes into the game, then Iverson scored 11 points in a 22-3 run for the Hoyas (27-7). That was pretty much that.

Marcus Mann, the nation’s rebounding leader, scored 24 points, most of them in garbage time. He was only 10 for 25 for the game, guard Anthony Davis went one for 13 and forward Dendruis Rucker shot two for nine.

Those shooting woes, according to Georgetown Coach John Thompson, were understandable considering Mississippi Valley’s tournament inexperience.

“This is a whole different environment for Mississippi Valley,” Thompson said. “We play on national television an awful lot. It’s difficult for some of those kids to get in this setting and relax right away. I’m sure they’re far better than they played against us today.”

North Carolina 83, New Orleans 62--Down by 10 points with only four minutes elapsed, the Tar Heels quickly righted themselves.

Jeff McInnis scored 25 points for North Carolina (21-10), which has won 16 consecutive NCAA tournament first-round games since 1980.

New Orleans (21-9) made its first six shots, including three three-pointers, to take a 15-5 lead. It was a predicament that North Carolina was well accustomed to--it was the 12th game this season in which the Tar Heels trailed by at least 10 points.

New Orleans, which couldn’t miss in the opening minutes, then made only four of its next 22 shots as Carolina took control.

Tyrone Garris scored 17 and James Douglas and Sims each had 15 for New Orleans, which came into the game with a nine-game winning streak after winning the Sun Belt Conference championship.

New Mexico 69, Kansas State 48--It had been 22 years since New Mexico won an NCAA tournament game, but that was somebody else’s problem.

These Lobos got 25 points from Clayton Shields and held Kansas State to 29% shooting in their victory, but there was little celebrating.

Maybe it was because Georgetown is next up.

“We’ve only been around here two or three years. We can’t worry about the last 22 years or whatever,” guard David Gibson said.

“It feels good to accomplish that, but we can only enjoy this for a little because we’ve got the Hoyas coming up,” said Charles Smith, who scored 15 points.

The Lobos are riding an 11-game winning streak, the school’s longest since the 1977-78 season.

Elliott Hatcher scored 14 points for Kansas State (17-12), which finished the season by losing seven of its last 10 games. The Wildcats made only 15 of 52 shots and only one field goal in the final 13 minutes.

“It’s not very complicated--we stunk in the last 10 minutes,” Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury said. “Give New Mexico credit, clearly, but not that much.”

Kansas State has been in the NCAA tournament in six of the last 10 years but hasn’t won since 1988.

New Mexico took control at the outset of the second half. Shields scored six points in a row in a 10-4 run that made it 41-34. After the Wildcats got within two, Marty Cotwright made two free throws and Shields sank a three-point shot for a 48-41 lead.