Red Raider Preview: Oklahoma

Saturday, February 4

United Supermarkets Arena

6:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma

Buy Tickets

February 03, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game23OklahomaNotes

The Red Raiders start the second half of Big 12 action versus Oklahoma on Saturday.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's basketball team will look to start off the second half of Big 12 action on a strong note when Oklahoma visits the United Supermarkets Arena on Saturday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU along with www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Jason Bennetti and Lance Blanks 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. Geoff Haxton and Chris Level will have the call. The radio broadcast also will be available on the Texas Tech Sports Network radio affiliates, online at www.TexasTech.com and the TuneIn Radio app. Fans can interact live with Saturday's broadcast @GunsUpRadio on Twitter.

The Red Raiders (15-7, 3-6 Big 12) have dropped their last three Big 12 decisions, most recently a 62-58 road setback to Texas on Wednesday. Texas Tech enters the weekend tied for seventh place in the Big 12 standings and posted a 6-3 mark fueled by a program-best five-game winning streak during the second half of Big 12 play a season ago.

"First of all from a positive side, we put ourselves in another position on the road in the Big 12 with a chance to win a one-possession game," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "As long as we continue to do that, I believe that there will be great times ahead with the program here. On the negative side, we just have to execute better. On offense, some of the best shots were our best shooters. If I told you before the game Anthony Livingston is going to get a wide open look, you would take it. We don't want to settle, but we want our best shooters to take shots. We just have to continue to get better."

Oklahoma (8-13, 2-7 Big 12) has had an extended break to get ready for Saturday's contest after falling 68-66 to Oklahoma State on Monday. The Sooners have lost four in a row and 11 of their last 13 decisions since dating back to early December. However, one of those wins for Oklahoma was an 84-75 victory over the Red Raiders in Norman back on Jan. 14 as Rashard Odomes and Jordan Woodard combined to pile up 51 points.

The Sooners carry a 38-22 series advantage and have won eight of the last 11 meetings going back to the 2012-13 season with Lon Kruger at the helm. Texas Tech will seek a series split for the third time in the last four seasons. One of the Red Raiders signature victories during last season's run towards the NCAA Tournament was a 65-63 win over then No. 3 Oklahoma. The trio of Keenan Evans, Aaron Ross and Zach Smith combined for 41 points headed by Ross' team-leading 17 points off the bench.

Fans can purchase tickets to Saturday's game for as low as $15 online at www.TexasTech.com or in person at the United Supermarkets Arena Box Office which opens 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

The first 500 students can pick up a Texas Tech basketball beanie at the student entrance. The student lounge with complementary food and beverages while supplies last will open at 5 p.m. CT. Nationally acclaimed Quick Change will perform at halftime, and fans are encouraged to wear red in support of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Day.

Texas Tech is offering enhancements for the remainder of the season to better serve its fans. The S1 Parking Lot at the John Walker Soccer Complex will be open for free parking for all fans. Texas Tech also will provide a free shuttle beginning 75 minutes prior to tipoff and 60 minutes following the game to transport fans to and from the United Supermarkets Arena.

Fans are reminded to go clear at all Texas Tech basketball games. The clear bag policy provides a safer atmosphere and speeds up the entry process into the United Supermarkets Arena.

About Texas Tech
The Red Raiders have posted a 15-2 record when making more free throws than their opponents. The lone exceptions were the Auburn and Texas games.

Texas Tech has dialed up a 48.6 percent shooting percentage which is third in the Big 12 and ranks 24th nationally. The Red Raiders also continue to rank among the NCAA's Top 35 in fewest turnovers per game (11.2 – 26th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.35 – 28th) and turnover margin (+3.0 – 31st).

Keenan Evans continues to fuel the squad with a team-leading 14.2 points per game. He has notched double figures in 10 straight games and 18 of his 21 appearances on the season. The 14.2 points per game are ninth in the Big 12 rankings. Evans will look to bounce back from a season-high five turnovers against Texas.

Zach Smith worked his way to 13.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He is the only Big 12 player to hold Top 5 marks in rebounds and blocks per game whereas his points average is good enough for 14th place in the Big 12. Smith has recorded at least one block in 19 of his 21 appearances and his 124 rejections are second in program history only behind Tony Battie at 162.

Anthony Livingston has ripped off double figures in back-to-back games for the fourth time this season after a 14-point effort at Texas. He stands in third place on the team at 11.4 points per game for the season. Livingston has connected on 43 of his 86 field goals from three-point territory and his 41.3 percentage is seventh on the Big 12 list.

Aaron Ross will appear in his 102nd career game on Saturday and has tallied 10.2 points per game. He has pumped in 11.6 points per game on 10-for-20 from the floor in Texas Tech's last three games. Ross has sank 92.2 percent of his free throws which is second in the Big 12 and checks in seventh nationally.

Justin Gray and Devon Thomas have started Texas Tech's last 18 games. The Red Raiders have won seven of eight games when Gray reaches double figures, the outlier was a 12-point performance at No. 5 Baylor on Jan. 25. Thomas has notched team-highs with 74 assists and 28 steals. He has secured 7.2 points per game on a 20-for-35 shooting clip over his last seven games.

Thomas Brandsma, Shadell Millinghaus, Niem Stevenson and Matthew Temple round out Texas Tech's 10-man playing rotation. Stevenson has found his offensive rhythm with 13.5 points per game ignited by five three-pointers in the last two games.

Texas Tech has played 19 of its 22 games this season which includes its last seven games without Norense Odiase who came away with 8.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game last season.

About Oklahoma
The Sooners have a balanced attack with three players averaging in double figures headed by Kameron McGusty at 15.8 points per game coupled with Woodard at 15.0 points per game during Big 12 play.

McGusty has ripped off double figures in nine consecutive games. He is looking to become the first Oklahoma freshman since Jeff Webster during the 1990-91 season to reach 10-plus in 10 straight outings. McGusty piled up a career-best 22 points versus Oklahoma State last time out.

Woodard heads into Saturday's matchup 14th on OU's scoring list with 1,414 career points, fifth in program history with 467 career assists and seventh on the Sooners leaderboard with 182 career steals. He has been limited to 5.0 points per game in his last three outings on 4-of-24 shooting but racked up three consecutive 20-point outbursts before that.

Kristian Doolittle has tallied three of his five games in doubles figures during Big 12 action. He exploded for career-highs with 29 points and 10 rebounds at Texas back on Jan. 23. Doolittle has paired with McGusty to amass 27.1 points per game in January, nearly doubling the output from the first month of the season in November.

Odomes has registered double figures in 11 games and the 24 points he scored on 9-of-14 shooting versus Texas Tech was a season's best. The leftie has done a great job of attacking the basket for Oklahoma and hit on 45.5 percent of his shots.

Khadeem Lattin has provided 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in Big 12 play. He piled up a season-high six points during the Oklahoma State game and has two other games with at least four blocks against Big 12 opponents.

"Woodard was a real killer from the free throw line so that starts with us not fouling as much," Beard said. "They really drove the ball from the perimeter spots. Oklahoma has a nice offensive set up. I think as their younger guys continue to get better, Oklahoma is going to be a real force. You have to pick and choose if you're going to take away the drive or take away the shot. I think that's something that we're going to have to adjust to throughout the game. I don't think we can go into the game thinking we're going to play them this way, I think our players are going to have to play different throughout the course of the 40-minute game to have a chance to be successful."

Up Next
Texas Tech finishes off a stretch of three straight midweek road games at TCU on Tuesday. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT from Schollmaier Arena. The game will be televised by ESPNEWS along with being available on the Watch ESPN app.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB and @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.