UW Men's Hoops | Huskies fall 99-92 in OT at Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas —

LUBBOCK, Texas — Engulfed by a tidal wave of screaming Texas Tech fans, Elston Turner prayed for a miracle.

The Washington guard missed a pair of free throws with five seconds left in regulation and watched as Red Raiders forward Mike Singletary raced up the court and sank an off-balance three-pointer as time expired to ignite pandemonium at the United Spirit Arena.

"I was just thinking, 'Don't foul him,' " Turner said. "Then I was hoping he got the shot off late."

Officials determined Singletary's shot didn't beat the buzzer. The Huskies were given a second chance.

In overtime, however, Texas Tech outscored Washington 10-3 in the final 1:25 to upset the 12th-ranked Huskies 99-92 in a Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series matchup.

Despite a career-high 31 points from forward Quincy Pondexter, Washington (5-1) suffered its first defeat in its first road game in front of 9,912 and a national ESPN2 audience.

"I thought, 'OK, now we're going win this,' " Pondexter said. "We had so many chances to win. We blew chances, but now we had overtime and were going to get it done."

Pondexter was intent on carrying the Huskies to a win. He scored eight points and sank four of five free throws in the extra period.

The Huskies were undone by mistakes and a critical errant pass in the final minute.

Trailing 91-89 with 48 seconds left, center Matthew Bryan-Amaning threw an inbounds pass to Venoy Overton that was intercepted by Tech's John Roberson, who scored on an uncontested layup.

On the next possession, UW's Isaiah Thomas — who had 18 points on 4-for-15 shooting — missed a long jumper and the Huskies were forced to foul to extend the game.

Texas Tech (8-0) made four free throws and scored on a layup to preserve the win.

With legendary coach Bob Knight peering from high in the stands, five Raiders players reached double-digit scoring.

Roberson led Tech with 25 points. Brad Reese added 17, Singletary had 16, and Nick Okorie and Darko Cohadarevic each had 10.

The Huskies (5-1) are an athletic team with a deep bench and Final Four aspirations, but they were reminded of their shortcomings against Tech.

Washington is inexperienced and sometimes wilted under Tech's pressure, committing a season-high 19 turnovers.

"That last pass was my fault," said Bryan-Amaning, who had 10 points and six rebounds. "We had a play set up for Quincy, but it wasn't there, and when I looked, it looked like Venoy was open."

Washington overcame a 10-point first-half deficit and trailed 50-41 at halftime, but had several chances to steal the game in regulation.

They never led by more than two in the second half and were in position to take a lead with five seconds left when Turner stepped to the free-throw line.

In his first game as a starter, he seemed poised to be the hero.

Turner, who finished with 15 points, missed both shots.

"I wish I could say something went wrong, but honestly I just missed them," he said. "I was thinking, 'If I make these, we win. We win and we just beat a very good team.' But that didn't happen."

Tech outscored Washington 19-12 in overtime.

The Huskies return home to face Cal State Northridge on Sunday at Edmundson Pavilion.

"This early in the year, we've still got a lot of learning to do," Pondexter said. "We've got to get back into the lab and get to work."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com

Box score

WASHINGTON (5-1)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
B-Amaning	26	4-6	2-3	0-6	1	2	10
Pondexter	32	10-17	11-13	2-5	0	4	31
Overton	31	4-5	1-3	0-0	3	5	9
Thomas	38	4-15	9-13	3-5	2	4	18
Turner	31	6-12	0-2	0-4	0	2	15
Gaddy	10	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	4	0
Trent	5	1-1	0-0	1-2	0	1	2
Suggs	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	0
Holiday	14	0-1	0-1	0-1	2	0	0
Breshers	6	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	2	0
Gant	27	3-5	1-1	1-9	1	5	7
	225	32-64	24-36	9-37	9	31	92

Percentages: FG .500, FT .667. Three-point goals: 4-15, .267 (Turner 3-7, Thomas 1-4, Suggs 0-1, Pondexter 0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7 (Bryan-Amaning 3, Turner, Holiday, Pondexter, Gant). Turnovers: 19 (Overton 6, Pondexter 6, Bryan-Amaning 2, Trent 2, Thomas, Gant, Holiday). Steals: 12 (Overton 6, Pondexter 3, Gant, Turner, Thomas). Technical fouls: Breshers, Thomas.

TEXAS TECH (8-0)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Roberts	26	3-6	2-2	3-5	0	5	8
Cohadarevic	20	5-8	0-0	4-5	0	5	10
Singletary	42	5-16	6-10	3-12	4	5	16
Roberson	43	6-10	13-13	1-2	7	3	25
Okorie	30	2-6	5-6	0-0	3	3	10
Reese	27	6-11	2-4	0-5	1	1	17
Davis	2	0-0	0-2	0-0	1	0	0
Tairu	13	4-6	1-2	1-3	0	3	9
Lwandowski	9	1-1	0-0	0-2	0	0	2
Jenkins	13	1-5	0-0	2-4	2	2	2
	225	33-69	29-39	15-42	18	27	99

Percentages: FG .478, FT .744. Three-point goals: 4-12, .333 (Reese 3-5, Okorie 1-2, Jenkins 0-1, Roberson 0-2, Singletary 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7 (Roberts 2, Reese 2, Okorie, Tairu, Singletary). Turnovers: 19 (Okorie 5, Cohadarevic 4, Roberson 4, Jenkins 2, Reese 2, Singletary 2). Steals: 8 (Okorie 3, Roberson 2, Lewandowski, Reese, Singletary). Technical fouls: Roberts.

Washington	41	39	12	—	92
Texas Tech	50	30	19	—	99

Attendance: 9,912. Officials: Tom O'Neill, Mark Whitehead, Doug Shows.