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Game Details:
Date: Saturday, February 21st
Time: 11:00 am
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-15, 2-12)
Bad Guys: Oklahoma Sooners (18-8, 9-5)
Location: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, TX
TV/Stream: ESPNU
Radio/Stream: Broadcast Affiliates and TuneIn App
Starting Lineup
 |
Pts / Reb |  |
Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Robert Turner (6-3/190) | 8.7 / 1.7* | Jordan Woodard (6-0/189) | 9.1 / 4.1* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Devaugntah Williams (6-4/205) | 10.5 / 3.2 | Isaiah Cousins (6-4/192) | 11.7 / 5.0 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Toddrick Gotcher (6-4/210) | 6.7 / 2.5 | Buddy Hield (6-4/212) | 17.2 / 5.3 |
| POWER FORWARD | Zach Smith (6-8/205) | 5.7 / 4.9 | TaShawn Thomas (6-8/242) | 10.9 / 6.1 |
| CENTER | Norense Odiase (6-9/270) | 6.3 / 4.7 | Ryan Spangler (6-8/235) | 10.7 / 8.0 |
* Assists.
Three Keys to the Game:
1. Scouting the Sooners. Oklahoma was on a terrific streak, winning five in a row before losing a stinker of a game to Kansas State last Saturday, but they did come back and beat Texas by two in Norman. Had Oklahoma won that K-State game, the Sooners would be, hands-down, the hottest team in the Big 12, but that hasn't happened. So, Texas Tech faces a team that is coming off a pretty big in against Texas and the last time that OU and Texas Tech met, the Sooners won by 50 or some absurd number. Texas Tech could never get the offense going and Tubby Smith opined after the game that this may have been the worst loss he's been a part of in his career.
2. Stats. The thing that worries me the most is the Oklahoma defense, which is holding opponents to just 37% from the field and that's not good for a Texas Tech defense that struggles to score.
Statistically, OU is a top ten team according to KenPom, having the 10th best rating to go along with the 45th best AdjO and the 6th best AdjD. Texas Tech is 170th overall, 279th in AdjO and 85th in AdjD. If you are looking for improvement, the defense is making some strides here.
*AdjO and AdjD via KenPom.
3. Matching Up. This is another tough match-up for Texas Tech, largely because of Hield and Cousins. I do like Zach Smith's maturation defensively, he played great against Baylor, and that should be a fantastic match-up with Thomas. I'd love to see Texas Tech just stop Woodard, who is a great facilitator. Woodard's numbers have fallen off a bit since the last time that these two teams have met (scoring and assists have dropped a bit), so maybe getting Woodard in a slump could be to Texas Tech's advantage. I also think we're starting to see a more confident Odiase and that low-post game should be really good between the two of them.