Texas Tech sophomore forward Mike Singletary took command in the second half, leading the No. 11-seeded Red Raiders to an 88-83 upset of No. 6-seeded Texas A&M at the Big 12 championship tournament Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
Singletary became a one-man wrecking crew in the second half, scoring 35 of Tech’s 59 second-half points after being held to eight points in the first half. His 43 points in the game set a Big 12 tournament record.
A&M (24-8) entered the game on a six-game win streak after starting conference play 3-7.
The Red Raiders (13-18) entered Wednesday’s game playing for pride and trying to play spoiler against the favored Aggies.
A&M opened the game with a 9-0 run through the first three and a half minutes of the game, holding the Red Raiders with out a field goal until Singletary made a layup with 13:16 remaining in the half.
After a free throw by A&M junior forward Chinemelu Elonu, the Aggies increased their lead to 32-18 at the 7:11 mark. A 3-pointer by junior guard Donald Sloan gave A&M a 48-29 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the half, which ended up being the margin the Aggies took into the locker room at halftime.
The Aggies kept control in the first five minutes of the second half, stretching their lead. A layup by Red Raiders’ junior guard Nick Okorie with 13:50 remaining in the game pulled Tech to within 17 points, sparking a Red Raider run that pulled them within single digits of the Aggies. Tech capped the rally with a Singeltary layup with 9:34 remaining in the game with the Red Raiders trailing 60-52.
Behind 3-pointers by Singletary, the Red Raiders nearly erased the A&M lead at the 3:41 mark when a Singletary free throw made the score 67-66.
After trading free throws, the game was tied at 77-77 with 1:06 remaining in the game. A shot by Singletary with 39 seconds remaining gave the Red Raiders their first lead of the game at 79-78.
After free throws by Tech senior guard Alan Voskuil and sophomore guard John Roberson gave the Red Raiders an 83-79 lead, A&M senior Josh Carter hit a 3-point shot to pull the Aggies to within one point with nine seconds remaining.
After trading free throws and a last-chance inbound pass by sophomore Nathan Walkup for a quick 3-point shot went out of bounds, Tech went on to win the upset against the Aggies.
Leading the scoring for A&M was junior guard Donald Sloan with 22 points. Helping out was Carter with 15, junior forward Bryan Davis with 11, and Elonu with 10 points.
Behind Singletary, Voskuil finished the game with 14 points for the Raiders.
The Aggies are eliminated from the Big 12 tournament and will await the NCAA Tournament selection show on Sunday. The Red Raiders move on to face No. 3-seeded Missouri on Thursday.