Who is Mike Singletary, and why are Texas A&M fans cursing his name this morning? High NCAA Tournament seed not yours, Aggie fans.
Just eight days after Alan Voskuil lit No. 9 Kansas for 35 in a 84-65 win, Texas Tech surprised us all again with the biggest comeback in Big 12 Tournament history. Singletary scored 29 straight points and finished with 43 as the Red Raiders came back from a 21-point deficit to beat A&M 88-83 on Wednesday. Holy crap, that's a Teen Wolf-style scoring display.
Singletary, a sophomore from Humble, Texas (and no relation to the 49ers coach), was averaging 11.1 points per game with a season high of 24.
Singletary simply took over the game. Tech coach Pat Knight compared his performance to a former Indiana teammate, one-time All-American Calbert Cheaney.
"We have been fighting all year," Singletary said. "No matter how many points we were down, we will fight to the very end." He overpowered smaller defenders and took the Aggies' big men outside, hitting three 3-pointers. "My teammates kept giving me the ball, and I just kept going," Singletary said.
Singletary has always been overshadowed by someone, even in high school (Arizona point guard Nic Wise was a teammate at Kingwood High in Texas). That should change now. Meanwhile, this wasn't a fatal blow to A&M's NCAA Tournament hopes, but it is a major flesh wound. Now it'll probably be seeded 10th or lower.
Singletary was a recruiting coup for Bobby Knight two years ago. How did he land him? Well, who could resist a warm, lovable coach wearing a Dan Patrick sweatshirt?
UPDATE: But wait! According to Yahoo Sports, it never happened! (Singletary gets a big, fat Did Not Play in his stats for the A&M game).
Texas Tech, 21 Points Down, Shocks Texas A&M, 88-83 [Dallas Morning News]