Texas Tech

Bob Knight has brushed aside other job opportunities to focus on Texas Tech. Ten days after Tech's president and athletic director approached Knight, the controversial basketball coach arrived in Lubbock yesterday for a three-day visit. "I've had contacts since talking to Texas Tech in different ways and I've just said I don't have any interest," the former Indiana coach said during a brief news conference last night. "This is a situation that appeals to me tremendously. " But at least 58 faculty members have put their names on an e-mail petition opposing Knight on grounds his well-publicized outbursts would cast a shadow on the school.

Fifth-ranked Texas and eighth-ranked Texas Tech advanced to the final of the Big Twelve tournament with victories last night in Dallas. Stacy Stephens had 20 points and 15 rebounds, leading Texas (24-5) to a 62-47 win over Colorado (22-7). Plenette Pierson scored 22 points as Texas Tech (25-4) rallied late to defeat No. 7 Kansas State (28-3), 71-65. Texas advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, but it has never won the Big Twelve tournament. Texas Tech hasn't advanced to the league final since 1999, when the Red Raiders beat Iowa State to win their second straight Big Twelve title.

Texas Tech's defensive heat proved to be the perfect cure for a chilly December night. Visiting Lamar found itself on the receiving end of the No. 7 Lady Raiders' relentless defensive pressure last night as Tech limited the Lady Cardinals to 16-for-51 shooting en route to an 85-41 victory. "I thought we looked a little bit ragged at the first of the game, but after we settled in, I felt we played pretty well and made some good choices," Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp said. "We wanted to continue to improve our offense and make some good decisions in it and find easy shots.

Tommy Tuberville says he's certain he can take Texas Tech to new heights. "There's no doubt in my mind we can take it to the next level," Tuberville said yesterday after being introduced as the new coach at Texas Tech, replacing the fired Mike Leach. The first step for the Red Raiders would be to win the Big 12 South outright, followed by a berth in a BCS bowl game and perhaps a shot at a national title. The former Auburn and Mississippi coach says the road to improvement includes improving on defense and adding a "few new wrinkles" to a pass-happy offense.

Texas Tech has its highest ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 in 32 years, and a chance to make another momentous leap coming up. The Red Raiders moved up two spots to No. 6 by overwhelming Kansas, 63-21 on Saturday. Texas Tech's next game is this Saturday night at No. 1 Texas. A second consecutive weekend when highly ranked teams ruled produced little change at the top of the media rankings. Texas is a unanimous No. 1 for the second week in a row, receiving all 65 first-place votes, and the rest of the top five remained the same: No. 2 Alabama, followed by Penn State, Oklahoma and Florida.

The nation's longest winning streak remains intact, but just barely. Texas Tech made only six field goals outside the lane and had just two baskets over the final 6 minutes, 47 seconds as it held off Northern Illinois, 74-73, last 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 straight 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.

A monthlong layoff and an ankle injury did little to slow down Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury became the third Division I-A player to top 5,000 yards passing in a season, throwing for 375 and three touchdowns as Texas Tech defeated Clemson, 55-15, in the Tangerine Bowl last night in Orlando, Fla. "Five thousand yards, that's a big number," Kingsbury said. "That shows how well our offense played this season. " Texas Tech (9-5) won its first bowl game since beating Air Force in the 1995 Copper Bowl and gave coach Mike Leach his first postseason victory.

Brandon Mouton hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to force an extra frame, and Royal Ivey made two free throws with 17 seconds left in overtime to lift No. 16 Texas to a 62-61 victory over No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock last night. The loss ended the Red Raiders' 12-game winning streak. It was the seventh straight victory in Lubbock for the Longhorns (13-3, 4-1 Big Twelve). Mouton's 22-foot shot off a crosscourt inbounds pass with 2.6 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 55. "I didn't have much time to mess around with it," Mouton said.

Andre Emmett scored 23 points and Texas Tech, revitalized in Bob Knight's first season as coach, held 14th-ranked Oklahoma State to a season-low score and beat the Cowboys, 73-51, yesterday in the Big Twelve tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City, Mo. The Red Raiders (23-7), who won only nine games last season, have two victories in the conference tourney - double their total in the previous five years. Texas Tech will meet No. 1 Kansas in the semifinals. The Jayhawks beat the Red Raiders, 108-81, in the regular season.

ITHACA, N.Y. - Oliver McNally made four free throws in the final 20 seconds as Harvard held off Cornell, 67-63, in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday night to clinch at least a share of its second straight Ivy League title. The Crimson (26-4, 12-2), who have concluded their regular season, need a Penn loss Tuesday at Princeton to clinch the crown outright and earn an NCAA berth for the first time since their only appearance in 1946. After the Big Red (12-16, 7-7) took their first lead at 30-29, Brandyn Curry hit four straight three-pointers to give the Crimson a 41-34 advantage with 14:04 left.

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking: Rec   Pts   Pr 1. Baylor (40) 23-0   1,000   1    2. Notre Dame 23-1   960   2    3. UConn 21-2   917   3    4. Stanford 20-1   882   4    5. Duke 18-3   805   5    6. Miami 20-3   803   7    7. Kentucky 21-3   728   6    8. Maryland 19-3   709   9    9. Green Bay 20-0   659   10    10. Ohio St. 20-2   651   11    11. Tennessee 17-6   582   8    12. Delaware 20-1   556   12    13. Nebraska 19-3   507   16    14. Georgetown 18-5   444   17    15. Texas A&M 16-5   417   18    16. Purdue 19-5   385   15    17. Rutgers 17-6   334   13    18. Penn St. 18-5   307   19    19. Gonzaga 21-3   268   20    20. Louisville 17-6   217   14    21. Georgia 18-6   207   21    22. Georgia Tech 17-6   128   24    (tie)

WHILE STARRING on both lines for Del-Val Charter's 2010 football team, Markeith Minnick received sincere FCS interest. Grades were not what kept him from accepting, seeing as how he boasted a 3.0. "I thought I was better than that," he said. "I felt I just had to get my name out there a little more. " Right he was! The 6-5, 290-pound Minnick, who just completed one semester at Hargrave Military, in Virginia, has signed to play tackle for Memphis. And since he's already qualified, he'll begin classes Jan. 10. "I want to thank the people at Del-Val for everything they've done for me," he said.