Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — For Bob Knight, record-setting victory No. 880 will have to wait until at least New Year’s Day.

Knight’s Texas Tech team fell behind UNLV early and never recovered, losing 74-66 Thursday night to leave him tied with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith atop the men’s Division I win list.

The Red Raiders trailed by 19 almost midway through the second half and the frustration might have gotten to Knight because he got his first technical of the season with 3:54 left. However, Tech was starting to rally then and kept it up, getting to 68-62 with 1:38 left. UNLV protected its lead by making six straight foul shots.

Knight’s next chance to own the record by himself comes Monday at home against New Mexico. History is on his side because he has never needed more than two tries to hit milestones such as 300, 400, 600, 700 and 800.

His first shot at this milestone drew a crowd of 15,098, one of the largest in school history, and included Knight pals Steve Alford, John Havlicek, Jerry Tarkanian and Fuzzy Zoeller. The usually staid fans were into it from the start.

Tech (10-4) came in as the nation’s most-accurate 3-point shooting team, but made only one of 12. UNLV (12-2) was 11-of-25 from behind the arc.