Texas Tech baksetball classics: Red Raiders upset OSU, controversy ensues

Tech’s best player outplayed OK State’s

Another requirement for an upset is that the underdog’s best player has to rise to the occasion and that’s exactly what Texas Tech’s Jaye Crockett did in this game.  With 21 points, 12 rebounds (five on the offensive glass), he neutralized a nice game from OSU’s best player, Smart.

The Cowboys’ star was strong in this one as well with 22 points but he had just four rebounds and he turned the ball over three times.  Meanwhile, Crockett did not turn it over once.

The Clovis, NM native was 7-13 from the field including 2-2 from 3-point range.  Shooting from deep was never his forte but by knocking down a pair of long bombs in this contest, he kept the defense from completely daring him to become an outside shooter.   This was only one of six times all season that the 6-foot-7 forward hit more than one 3 in a game.  Never did he make three.

This was also one of five double-doubles for Crocket during his senior year.  And to understand what he meant to that year’s Texas Tech basketball team, know that he was the leading scorer in half of the Red Raiders’ 14 wins.

Eleven of Crockett’s points against the Pokes came after the break, including both of his shots from beyond the arc.  But his signature shot of the day, if not his entire career in Lubbock was the game-winning jumper in the final minute to break a 63-63 tie.

Taking a pass from Turner with just six seconds on the shot clock, Crockett calmly buried a 15-foot jumper from the baseline.  But that possession would not have ended that way had he not secured an offensive rebound just seconds prior.

It’s a shame that the final 30 seconds unfolded the way they did because they took the attention away from Crockett’s huge shot and signature game as a Red Raider.  After playing for four different head coaches in four years and keeping his head up through it all, the senior deserved to have his moment.  But what transpired next cast a pall over the entire game, especially when the national media got involved.