March 10, 2011

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Marcus Denmon scored 20 points, leading Missouri past Texas Tech 88-84 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night and bringing an end to Pat Knight's time as coach of the Red Raiders.

Knight was fired on Monday, effective whenever Tech was eliminated from the conference tournament. The son of Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, who coached Tech while grooming Pat for the job, finished 50-61 in three disappointing seasons.

Twice Missouri (23-9) had big runs and appeared to pull away. But the Red Raiders (13-19) responded each time and made it close before the Tigers finally nailed down the victory to end a three-game losing streak and advance to a second-round game Thursday against Texas A&M.

John Roberson had 28 points for Texas Tech.