For the second time this season, the fans rushed the court at the United Spirit Arena after a Texas Tech win against a Big 12 Conference opponent.  Saturday, Texas Tech (12-11, 4-6) edged out #19 Oklahoma State (16-7, 4-6) by four points, 65-61. Jaye Crockett put his Red Raider teammates on his back and led the team with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Texas Tech got off a good start in the first half, with a 10-4 lead seven minutes into the game.  At halftime, the lead was down to two, 29-27.

The game's momentum shifted to Oklahoma State at the start of the second half. OSU tied the game at 30 at the 18:28 mark. The Cowboys then went on a 14-6 run to get a 44-36 lead with 13:47 left in the game.

After a media timeout, the Red Raiders fought back, forcing three Cowboys turnovers amidst going on their own 10-2 run to tie the game at 46.

TexasTech.com
TexasTech.com
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At that point in the game, Tech and Oklahoma State started trading baskets. with ties at 48, 54 & 57.  Crockett's second three-pointer of the half tied the game at 57, with 4:05 left in the game.

About a minute later the United Spirit Arena erupted when Robert Turner's jumper fell to give the Red Raiders a 59-57 lead. However, the lead was short-lived as a Marcus Smart lay-up on the following possession tied the game again at 59. Smart ended up leading the Cowboys with 22 points, going 9/10 from the free throw line.

Thirty seconds later, a Jordan Tolbert lay-up gave the Red Raiders at 61-59 lead with 2:15 left. The Cowboys responded right away as Le'Bryan Nash was fouled on the next possession and his free throws tied the game at 61 with 1:43 left. Nash finished the game with 12 points.

The Red Raiders worked the ball around the court on their next possession, with Robert Turner attempting a lay-up with six seconds left on the shot clock, and 1:13 left in the game. However, Turner missed the shot. He got his own rebound but missed the follow-up too. The Red Raiders tracked down the rebound for a new 35 and worked the ball around the half-court again. Crockett then got open for jumper and made the shot and that put Texas Tech up 63-61 with 41 seconds left.

Two OSU timeouts later, the Cowboys had the ball with 18 seconds left. The Cowboys worked the ball into the key when Nash was stripped of the ball. It was recovered by the Turner and he passed the ball down the court to Crockett on the fast break.  As Crockett got to the basket he was fouled from behind by Smart.

Smart's momentum to him into the first row of seats behind the basket.  As Smart got up, he then exchanged words with a Texas Tech fan and then shoved him. The fan was later identified as Jeff Orr. Smart was then assessed a technical foul by officials as teammates escorted him back to half-court. (You can read more on the Smart incident by clicking this link).

The technical foul ended up being the nail in the coffin for the Cowboys. Dusty Hannahs made one of the two technical free throws.  Then Crockett made one of his two free throws to put the Red Raiders up by four. The Cowboys weren't able to do anything with their final possession as the clock ran out.

Rob Snyder, 1340TheFan.com
Rob Snyder, 1340TheFan.com
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Saturday's attendance was 15,098, the first sellout for Texas Tech Red Raider Basketball since 2007.

Texas Tech's next game is Wednesday at Oklahoma.  The game tips off at 7 o'clock and will be televised on the Big 12 Network.

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