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Thursday, January 17, 2008

900 Wins And Counting For Coach Bob Knight

Bob Knight reached another milestone Wednesday night. Already Division I's all-time wins leader, Knight won his 900th game as unranked Texas Tech upset No. 9 Texas A&M 68-53.

"This thing never entered my mind," Knight said. "I could care less about this. I'm just happy to get it over with."

And he's modest too.

Milestone Man
Bobby Knight
Bobby Knight's first collegiate coaching win came when Richard Nixon was president. His 900th came over 30 years later. Here's a look at his milestones:
Victory
Date
Result
100Feb. 27, 1971Army 64, Navy 50
200Dec. 19, 1975Indiana 93, Georgia 56
300Feb. 7, 1980Indiana 83, N'western 69
400Dec. 8, 1984Indiana 81, Ken. 68
500Jan. 14, 1989Indiana 92, N'western 76
600Jan. 6, 1993Indiana 75, Iowa 67
700March 5, 1997Indiana 70, Wisc. 66
800Feb. 5, 2004Texas Tech 75, Neb. 49
900Jan. 16, 2008Texas Tech 68, Tex. A&M 53
"I'm happy that I've been able to coach this long 'cause I've basically enjoyed coaching probably 70-30, anyhow," he said. "That's a mark of longevity as much as anything so I'm just glad I've lived this long."

After the game fans chanted Knight's name as he walked off the court to a thunderous ovation.

"You folks being here, seats being full for a change, really made a difference tonight," Knight told the crowd before leaving the court.

The win was Tech's third straight over an Aggies team ranked in the top 10. Last season the Red Raiders beat A&M twice by a combined four points. The Aggies were ranked No. 6 (AP) going into each game and were on nine- and five-game winning streaks, respectively.

"Can't explain it," said Joseph Jones, who played in all three of the losses to Tech. "They got our number, like you said. They've got us the last two years."The Aggies (15-2, 1-1 Big 12) looked frazzled and out of sync most of the game. A&M went 18-for-53 from the field in its worst shooting performance (34 percent) of the season and they turned the ball over a season-high 20 times.

"We were really bad," A&M Coach Mark Turgeon said. "That's the only way I can put it. I think Tech was really good and we were bad."

Knight lauded his team."That was about as good, in that context, as I think I've ever had a team play," he said. "It was obviously a really good win but there isn't any such thing as a bad win, I guess."I hope it's an indication to our players how they can play."

Next stop...the big 1,000.

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