ESPN Men's Basketball

Texas Tech coach Pat Knight has a team that's been a pleasant surprise, but he wasn't in the best of moods (as if anyone in Lubbock is these days) after the Red Raiders' 15-point loss Tuesday night to New Mexico.

The first game between ranked (and one-loss) teams at The Pit in a decade featured a sellout crowd, a national television audience, and to Knight's dismay, Texas Tech surrendering 90 points. Five Lobos scored in double figures, with guard Darington Hobson pouring in 23 of them.

So what's up with the offense, Knight?

Check out the video of his news conference here from KRQE News 13 in New Mexico. The money quote of the mini-meltdown is transcribed here:

"We gotta quit talking the offense," Knight said. "Mike [Singletary] scored nine points. I could give a flying [expletive] about the offense right now, and I don't want any more damn questions about the [expletive] offense. Our problem is we don't guard [expletive] anybody right now."

OK, so who had Texas Tech undefeated through eight games?

Ummm, nobody?

Pat Knight coached a wonderful game Thursday night in leading the Red Raiders to a 99-92 victory over No. 10 Washington to jump-start the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

Texas Tech’s John Roberson scored 25 points to lead the Red Raiders, who nearly won the game in regulation when Mike Singletary let a 3-pointer fly at the buzzer. The crowd stormed the court but the officials, led by Tom O’Neill, made the right call in sending the game into overtime.

This could have been the perfect way for UW to come back and snuff out the Red Raiders with momentum suddenly back in their favor. But the Raiders followed what was a poised Knight under duress to pull away and outscore the Huskies 19-12 in overtime. Texas Tech looked like it had a ball playing this game, enjoying every minute of it in playing for Knight.

But the questions going forward are these: How will Texas Tech handle the success and can the Red Raiders be a player in a loaded Big 12?

The schedule gets even tougher with TCU and Wichita State on the road next (the latter likely a harder outing than the former), home to an erratic Stanford and then at surging New Mexico to close out the month. If the Red Raiders can survive this stretch with a 3-1 record, they will be on their way toward at least a bubble-bound bid process barring a total collapse in the league. The problem is the schedule doesn’t get any easier. Right before league play begins at Oklahoma State, TTU has to take on Conference USA co-favorite UTEP.

But what we saw Thursday night is a team that won’t quit, will play scrappy and will be a tough out no matter who comes to Lubbock.

What we saw from Washington wasn’t awful, though. The Huskies were playing a true road game, a difficult one and the only one the Huskies will play in the nonconference. Washington plays a neutral site game against Georgetown on Dec. 12 in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim. U-Dub may need to win that game to get something significant on the résumé in the nonconference. A home game against Portland after the matchup with the Hoyas suddenly looks tougher after the Pilots' run to the title game in the 76 Classic in Anaheim.

Washington is still the favorite for the Pac-10 title with Cal fading and facing injury issues. But the Huskies are likely destined for a mediocre seed, even if they were to win the conference title again. The Pac-10 is heading for its worst season in maybe a quarter-century with the possibility that only two or three bids could be had come March.

Senior Quincy Pondexter has matured into a solid leader and was averaging 20 and 11 even prior to Thursday's 31-point performance at TTU. The UW guard play has to be solid with Isaiah Thomas, Venoy Overton and Abdul Gaddy, but making better decisions with passes, having better shot selection and limiting fouls (Gaddy fouled out Thursday) still must happen for the Huskies to become a more dangerous player come March.