Friday 22nd March,1996

Texas Tech         50   40  -   90
Georgetown         47   51  -   98

Othella Harrington added 23 points before fouling out with 7:52 to play for Georgetown , which is in the regional finals for the first time since 1989, when it lost to Duke in the East Region finals.

"The coach told us to just go out and play defense and get on their shooters and we would pull away from them," said Georgetown coach Victor Page. "We really weren't nervous because we've been in this kind of dogfight before."

Jason Sasser scored 25 points for Texas Tech (30-2), which had its 23-game winning streak snapped. The Red Raiders were denied in their fourth attempt to reach the regional finals. Texas Tech has been eliminated by a Big East Conference opponents in its last four NCAA Tournament appearances.

"We had a great run this year; we had a chance to win the ball game," said Sasser, who was one of four senior starters to play his final collegiate game at Texas Tech. "Anytime you have to play (from) behind against Georgetown, it's really hard. "We just ran out of gas and Georgetown kept sticking it to us."

The Red Raiders took a 61-56 lead when Sasser made the second of two free throws before Iverson and Georgetown scored the next 17 points to take control of the game.

After Jerome Williams made a basket, Harrington made a layup and one of two free throws to pull the Hoyas within 61-60. Iverson then made a steal and was intentionally fouled by Devon Roberts on a breakaway layup with 12:30 to play.

Iverson made the two free throws to make it 62-61. Iverson then caused another turnover and had a layup to make it 64-61. Boubacar Aw added a layup before Iverson made 2-of-4 foul shots to open the lead to 68-61.

Harrington hit a turnaround baseline jumper before Aw capped the run with a layup to give Georgetown a 72-61 lead.

Texas Tech struck back for eight consecutive points as Cory Carr hit a three-pointer and Koy Smith hit two foul shots and a three-pointer to pull the Red Raiders within 72-69.

Jahidi White had a three-point play but Smith answered with another three-pointer to make it 75-72. Iverson converted a layup but Carr had a layup and made 2-of-3 foul shots to draw Texas Tech within 77-76 at the 4:11 mark. The Hoyas then put the game away with a 9-0 burst as Aw started the run with a layup to make it 79-76. Darvin Ham missed two free throws for Texas Tech before Victor Page made 2-of-4 foul shots. Williams added two free throws to give the Hoyas an 83-76 advantage with 2:55 to play.

Williams capped the run with a three-point play to make it 86-76 with two minutes remaining. The Red Raiders pulled within five points, the last time at 95-90 with 15 seconds to play, but Iverson hit the first of two foul shots and Page made two free throws to complete the scoring.

"In the first half, I was a little off," said Iverson. "I missed some shots I could have made. My teammates talked me up and I came back. We just wanted to play our style of basketball and get the ball into Othella."

Texas Tech used a 10-0 run in a 1:45 stretch of the first half to open up a 10-point lead. Harrington had a dunk to tie the game for Georgetown at 32-32, but Jason Martin hit a jumper and Sasser made a hook shot and a pair of free throws to give the Red Raiders a 38-32 lead.

Gionet Cooper threw down a dunk and Smith capped the run with two free throws to make it 42-32 with 3:05 remaining. The Hoyas outscored Texas Tech, 13-8, the rest of the half to pull within 50-47 at intermission.

"I felt the kids showed a lot of guts and determination," added Thompson. "We were down by 10 in the first half and were able to cut it to three. I thought that was very significant."

In their previous three NCAA Tournament appearances, the Red Raiders have lost to St. John's in 1993, Georgetown in 1986 and Boston College in 1985.

Page finished with 17 points for the Hoyas, who shot 49 per cent (32-of-66) from the field. Iverson was 10-of-29 from the field and 11-of-18 from the line and also had five steals. Page made 9-of-13 free throws as Georgetown made 33-of-46 free throws.

Williams finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Carr and Smith finished with 16 points apiece for the Red Raiders, who shot 46 per cent (30-of-66) from the floor and committed 22 turnovers, leading to 23 Georgetown points.

"They did what they had to do to win the game," Texas Tech coach James Dickey said. "We didn't handle the pressure that Georgetown put on us very well. We didn't make good decisions and we didn't play well down the stretch. We got in early foul trouble in the first half and that catches up with you down the stretch."

Martin was the only other Texas Tech player in double figures with 12 points. Sasser grabbed eight rebounds as the Red Raiders outrebounded Georgetown, 46-39.

The teams combined for 59 fouls and 81 free throws as Texas Tech was 23-of-35 from the foul line. Ham, Sasser and Tony Battie fouled out for Texas Tech, which had only three players foul out all season.

"Regardless of how the officials called the game, whether they called it fairly loose or they call it tight, you have to play the game," said Ham about the officiating. "I don't think it works towards any advantage for either team, because they had people in foul trouble that eventually fouled out and we had the same. I think the refs called it like they saw it."