Red Raiders Defeated By Longhorns

Saturday, March 1

United Spirit Arena

3:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

No. 5 Texas

Will Chavis had 21 points and eight rebounds for Texas Tech, Saturday.

March 01, 2003 | Men's Basketball

March 1, 2003

Box Score

By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press Writer

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas' depth was the difference against Texas Tech on Saturday.

Brandon Mouton had 20 points to lead four Longhorns in double figures in their 76-71 victory, their 13th straight over the Red Raiders.

The fifth-ranked Longhorns (20-5, 11-3 Big 12) had nine players score.

"(The depth) has been good all year," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We've committed to it, and it's been there for us all year. A lot of times teams start out talking about their depth, but this team has been able to rely on its depth because of chemistry."

The Longhorns led most of the way until Tech tied it at 41-41 with 17:21 left in the game.

Texas used a 10-1 run to go up 68-58 on two free throws by T.J. Ford with 3:18 to play.

"We just battled from there on just trying to get back into it and couldn't quite do it," Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said. "We got beat by a pretty good team."

The Red Raiders (16-9, 6-8) went on a 9-2 run to pull within 72-69 on a drive by Kasib Powell with 25 seconds remaining.

Ford made two free throws with 22 seconds left to make it 74-69 and Powell made a layup with 2.2 seconds to get Texas Tech within three points. Mouton hit two free throws to close out Texas' win.

"I think anytime that you play a really good team like Texas ... you're just not going to be able to make many mistakes against them," Knight said.

Texas knew Texas Tech would hang tough no matter how far down the Red Raiders got.

"They were playing for their lives," Ford said. "We didn't expect them to give up. They're a great ball club, and they played hard."

Texas Tech dominated inside, scoring 44 points in the paint to 24 for Texas. The Red Raiders also led Texas in second-chance points 19-9 and outrebounded the Longhorns 40-38.

The win was largely due to free throws. Tech was 9-of-18 from the line, while Texas hit 85 percent (23-of-27).

"As a team, we've been working on free throws before and after practice," said Mouton, who was 6-of-8 from the line. "We just focus on knocking them down. Sometimes, the game gets down to basics."

Will Chavis had 21 points and eight rebounds for the Red Raiders and Andre Emmett, the Big 12's leading scorer coming into the game, added 20 points.

Texas' James Thomas entered the game ranked seventh nationally in rebounds at 11.7 per game. He had only five.

Ford had 17 points and Brad Buckman added 14 points and nine rebounds for Texas, which last lost to the Red Raiders in February 1997.

The Longhorns used a 10-0 run to take a 15-7 lead, holding the Red Raiders scoreless for 5? minutes. Chavis ended Tech's drought with a 3-pointer with 11:09 left and the Red Raiders used a 14-7 run to get within 26-24 with 4:03 remaining in the half.

Tech's postseason now lies in the balance. It needs to win its next two games - against No. 7 Kansas on Monday night and against Baylor next Saturday - if its hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA are to be realized.

Knight, however, isn't looking at it that way.

"There isn't anything that's a must-win," he said. "What's going to happen if we lose the next two games? Is Lubbock going to drop off the map? Is the university going to fail to operate? I mean sure they're two games that we'd like to win and we're going to do everything we can to win those two games."