The Texas Tech men’s basketball team will look to build on its recent momentum after three consecutive victories over Top 25 opponents when the Red Raiders meet Oklahoma State Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Tipoff is on-tap for 8:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU in addition to being available on www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Mitch Holthus and Kevin Lehman will serve as the announcing team.
The Texas Tech Sports Network will carry the game live on its flagship stations 97.3 FM, 100.7 FM and 950 AM in Lubbock. Brian Hanni and Chris Level will have the call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the radio affiliates of the Texas Tech Sports Network, online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
Last time out, Texas Tech (16-9, 6-7 Big 12) grinded out a 65-63 win over No. 3 Oklahoma. It marked the first time in program history that the Red Raiders have secured three straight victories over ranked opponents, and Tech’s first win over an Associated Press Top 5 opponent since an 83-80 triumph over No. 5 Texas on March 1, 2008.
Texas Tech heads into Saturday’s action with a two-game lead over Kansas State for seventh place in the Big 12 standings and trails Iowa State by one game for sixth place. A win Saturday would give the Red Raiders their first four-game winning streak in Big 12 action since 2004-05.
“I blurted out overachieving (in the press conference after the Oklahoma game), and that’s something we talk about on a regular basis,” Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith said. “In order to achieve our dream of being the best, there’s going to be that point in time when you have to overachieve and when you have to raise your level of play. But I believe that these guys have earned the right to be where they are. They’ve earned it every day in practice. That’s what I was trying to communicate to them was to keep believing in yourself and keep believing in what we’re doing.”
The Cowboys (12-14, 3-10 Big 12) have dropped six of their last eight decisions since a 19-point victory over then No. 3 Kansas on Jan. 19. Oklahoma State has played its last four games without its leading scorer and freshman phenom Jawun Evans due to a shoulder injury. OSU was handed a 94-67 defeat at No. 2 Kansas on Monday after securing a 58-55 overtime win over Kansas State last Saturday.
Saturday marks the 60th meeting in the all-time series where Oklahoma State possesses a 43-16 advantage and has won 23 of the 26 contests in Stillwater. Texas Tech has won the last two games over the Cowboys by a combined three points courtesy of a pair of Devaugntah Williams game-winning shots. Williams drove to the basket for the game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds remaining in overtime during Tech’s 63-61 victory on Feb. 3.
About Texas Tech
Texas Tech’s defense has limited its opponents to 68.2 points per game during the Red Raiders 4-1 stretch to begin February.
“Defense been the difference in every game – the lack of defense and the presence of defensive stops,” Smith said. “The Oklahoma State game started it and was the first game where we were able to get some stops at the end of that game. I think we got two or three stops in overtime to get that win. We’ve sort of built on that in the last win we had here against Oklahoma State. It’s carried over, and our guys have understood that we aren’t going to beat people with our offensive firepower. We need to be able to stop people defensively. They believe in that now, and they’re doing it.”
Aaron Ross has tucked away double figures in career-long streak of six consecutive games and has secured his top three career scoring performances during the streak. He pumped in a career-best 22 points and added seven rebounds against Oklahoma State on Feb. 3. Ross’ 12.3 points per contest are ranked 15th in Big 12 games. He has improved his averages to 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as part of the six-game run.
Justin Gray has notched 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in Big 12 action. His 1.2 steals per game are tied for 13th. Gray has been a member of Tech’s starting five in five consecutive games. He has piled up 11.7 points per game and sank 13 of his last 21 shot attempts over his last three outings.
Keenan Evans continues to be a factor and upped his scoring to 14.0 points per game over Tech’s last six games. He has tallied 10-plus points on five occasions. Evans scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and his layup in transition off a steal gave the Red Raiders the lead for good at 62-61 versus No. 3 Oklahoma with 1:56 left. He also drained 3-of-4 at the foul line inside the final 30 seconds.
Zach Smith has led the way on the interior with 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He nearly secured a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds against Oklahoma. Smith has worked his way into double figures in three straight for the first time since the Richmond-Texas-Iowa State games from Dec. 29-Jan. 6. His 84 career blocks are ninth in program history.
Devaugntah Williams and Toddrick Gotcher have reached double figures 28 times on the season. Gotcher has dished out a team-leading 33 assists versus six turnovers in Big 12 action. His 1.7 treys per game and 37.2 three-point percentage are 8th and 10th, respectively, on the Big 12 leaderboard.
Matthew Temple has started Tech’s last eight games in place of an injured Norense Odiase. He turned in a balanced five points, four rebounds and two assists during the Oklahoma game. Temple has garnered 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game over his last nine outings.
Jordan Jackson, Devon Thomas and C.J. Williamson have seen playing as part of Tech’s bench rotation.
Thomas has totaled five points on eight occasions and handed out multiple assists in 11 of 22 games whereas Williamson has scored 20 of his 29 points over his last nine appearances.
Texas Tech will play without Odiase for the ninth straight game. He suffered a foot injury during the first half of the TCU game on Jan. 18 and is on track to return before the end of the regular season. Odiase managed 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and reached 10-plus points in eight of his last 13 games before the injury.
About Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have held their competition to 67.0 points per game and a 40.3 field goal percentage which ranks second and third in the Big 12 rankings, respectively.
Evans had registered 19.5 points, 6.3 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game in his last six outings leading into against Texas Tech on Feb. 3. The Big 12 Freshman of the Year candidate piled up 10 points on a crisp 4-of-5 shooting effort during the opening half versus the Red Raiders before the injury.
Jeff Newberry is the only OSU player to start every game this season. He has compiled 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Newberry has notched 15 games in double figures which includes three of his last five performances. He dropped in 19 points during the Kansas game on Feb. 15.
Leyton Hammonds has dropped in double figures in six of his last seven appearances en route to 10.3 points per game. He secured his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds during the first meeting against Texas Tech. Hammonds dialed up a 16-point effort on a 6-of-9 shooting clip at TCU on Feb. 8.
Jeffrey Carroll has amassed 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game over his last four appearances. He racked up a career-high 18 points sparked by a quartet of three-pointers and seven rebounds against No. 13 Iowa State on Feb. 6.
OSU’s top performer off the bench has been Chris Olivier with 8.0 points per game on a 53.8 field goal percentage. He added 11 points and six rebounds versus Texas Tech on Feb. 3. Tavarious Shine has chipped in 5.3 points per game and connected on 15 of his 30 baskets from three-point territory. He is coming off back-to-back double digit scoring efforts with 11 points apiece during the Kansas State and Kansas contests.
“I don’t think we’ve beaten them at Oklahoma State since I’ve been here,” Smith said. “We have a very poor record in Stillwater. We’ve got to go in there with the right mentality. They’re a team that’s been struggling, but they’ve played everybody close. They’ve played Kansas tough, and we’re in the game though Kansas pulled away at the end. They had the big win against Kansas State last weekend in overtime. We know what they’re capable of. We know how lucky and how fortunate we were to get the win here. I don’t think we’ll be looking past the Cowboys.”
