Last night, it appeared that Tech had a little trouble with North Dakota State last night as they won, 85-81 leaving Coach Knight with only 6 wins to catch Dean Smith. The DMN barely has what could be considered a story here. Tim MacMahon has a few other quotes at their college blog, but those quotes are also in the story below.
John Miller of the FWST writes that Coach Knight did not feel the best team won. Miller details the final 1:50:
But back-to-back baskets by Andre Smith cut the deficit to two with 58 seconds left.
After Benny Valentine missed a baseline jumper for Texas Tech, North Dakota State had the ball with the shot clock off. Ben Woodside drove into the lane and drew contact, but not a foul, and the ball went out of bounds to Texas Tech.
"There was a lot of contact," Bison coach Tim Miles said. "I guess that's what happens on the road when you play in the Big 12."
There are some things that I like about the boxscore. Our guards scored 59 of a total of 85 points. I am worried about the play up front. I never thought that we were big enough or athletic enough during Big 12 play last year and I am excited that Rizvic is getting some playing time, although I'd like to see more than 2 rebounds in 23 minutes. I guess Plefka is just a big body for now. NDS shoots 55% for the game and as the FWST article notes, 36 points in the paint. The lack of a real inside presence really worries me at this point.