Oklahoma 75, Texas Tech 61

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Nate Carter scored 24 points and Longar Longar had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Oklahoma to a 75-61 win against Texas Tech on Saturday night.<br/> <br/>It was Longar's fourth

Saturday, February 3rd 2007, 9:18 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Nate Carter scored 24 points and Longar Longar had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Oklahoma to a 75-61 win against Texas Tech on Saturday night.

It was Longar's fourth double-double of the season and his first since he was suspended for two games after elbowing Tech's Esmir Rizvic in the team's meeting in Lubbock last month.

Tech coach Bob Knight suggested after that Jan. 6 game that Longar shouldn't be allowed to play again because Rizvic sustained a fractured eye socket on the play.

ongar, a junior center, responded with his best output ever against a Big 12 Conference foe. He was rewarded with a bear hug from Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel and a standing ovation from the crowd when he was removed with 24.2 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma (13-8, 4-4) scored the final 13 points to pull away in a game that had been close throughout.

Jay Jackson tied his season high with 31 points and Martin Zeno added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Tech (15-8, 4-4), which has lost three in a row since beating top-10 foes Kansas and Texas A&M in back-to-back games in Lubbock.

The teams traded the lead 10 times in the first 13 minutes of the 2nd-half and were never separated by more than 5-points until the final three minutes.

Charlie Burgess beat Oklahoma's defense for a layup in transition and then completed the 3-point play to give the Red Raiders a 59-55 lead with 6:53 left.

Michael Neal came back with a 3-pointer for Oklahoma, and Longar hit one free throw each on back-to-back trips to the foul line to put the Sooners back ahead 60-59. Neal then added 2-foul shots to make it a 3-point cushion.

Longar skied to swat Jackson's runner on Tech's next possession, but the ball went straight to Zeno and he hit a jumper from the left side. Those were the last points the Red Raiders would score. Carter and Longar combined to score the next eight points from the free-throw line.

Jackson missed his final 5-shots, beginning with the one swatted by Longar, to finish 12-25.

Neal added 18 points for Oklahoma, which outrebounded Tech 38-27. Knight fell to 1-6 against the Sooners in Norman.

Oklahoma surged into the lead with an 11-2 run late in the 1st-half that included a pair of baskets by Longar.

Longar gave Oklahoma a 24-23 edge on a putback of Neal's miss, then added a jumper from the left elbow before turning to Capel and pumping his fist. Carter, who was fouled during Longar's shot, added 2-free throws to stretch the lead to 30-25.

Zeno's driving layup made it 30-27 at halftime, and he also scored the first 4-points of the 2nd-half to start the string of lead changes.

Billy Tubbs, who was 333-132 as the Sooners' coach from 1981-1994 and guided Oklahoma to the 1988 national title game, was honored during a halftime ceremony.