Red Raider Preview: Oklahoma

Saturday, January 14

Norman, Okla.

7:30 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma

January 13, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game17OklahomaGameNotes

NORMAN, Okla. – The Texas Tech men's basketball team returns to the road for the third straight weekend in conference play and takes on Oklahoma Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU in addition to the Watch ESPN app. Jason Benetti and Reid Gettys 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.

Texas Tech (13-3, 2-2 Big 12) has split its first four conference matchups and protected its home floor with wins over No. 7 West Virginia (77-76) and No. 25 Kansas State (66-65). The Red Raiders have dropped road contests to Iowa State (63-56) and No. 3 Kansas (85-68). Texas Tech is looking for its first 3-2 Big 12 start dating back to 2006-07.

Oklahoma (6-9, 0-4 Big 12) has been handed seven straight losses mostly without leading scorer Jordan Woodard who returned to the lineup in the Sooners last game against No. 2 Kansas. OU has already used seven starting five combinations, the most in one season under head coach Lon Kruger.

The Sooners have posted a 7-3 record against Texas Tech going back to the 2011-12 season. The two teams have split their meetings during two of the last three seasons which include a 68-60 win for the Red Raiders in Norman (2013-14) and a 65-63 victory over No. 3 Oklahoma in Lubbock (2015-16).

"We try to make practice competitive every day," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "We have a winner and a loser in everything we do. We also spent a lot of time in the film room watching special situations not just our games and different games around the country especially when it comes to late game scenarios."

About Texas Tech
The Red Raiders continue to possesses NCAA Top 25 marks in field goal percentage (50.3 – 10th), rebounding margin (+8.6 – 11th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44 – 19th), scoring defense (62.9 – 22nd), three-point field goal percentage (39.8 – 23rd) and turnovers per game (11.3 – 25th).

Keenan Evans has racked up double figures in five consecutive games for the second time this season. He also has notched 10-plus points in 10 of his last 11 games and 13 of 16 games on the season to claim a team-leading 13.9 points per game, good enough for 10th in the Big 12 rankings. Evans tallied 16 of his 18 points during the second half against No. 25 Kansas State last time out. He has sank 15 of his 27 three-pointers over his last seven games and his 47.4 three-point percentage is second in the Big 12.

Zach Smith has upped his scoring average to 13.8 points per game and secured 10-plus points in 10 of his last 12 outings. He has piled up 5 double-doubles, tied for second on the Big 12 leaderboard. Smith also has compiled 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game to rank third and fourth, respectively, on the Big 12 lists. He has recorded 119 career blocks, second on Texas Tech's all-time list, only behind Tony Battie with 162 stuffs.

Anthony Livingston will look to regain his offensive groove after being limited to 5.0 points per game in his last two outings. He is third on the squad with 11.9 points per game ignited by a team-leading 28 treys. Livingston's 1.7 treys per game and 41.8 three-point ratio are eighth in the Big 12.

Aaron Ross headlines the bench for the Red Raiders with 11.3 points per game. He has returned to double figures in Texas Tech's last two games. Overall, Ross has rattled home 10-plus points eight times. He is coming off 10 points against No. 25 Kansas State.

"The big thing with our team is I think we're improving with each in practice and in games," Beard said. "That's the positive, and the goal is to play our best basketball in late February and into March. In a lot of ways, we're heading in that direction."

Justin Gray and Devon Thomas have started the last 12 games for the Red Raiders. Thomas has had one turnover or less in 13 of 16 games, his 62 assists pace the team and his 4.8 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the Big 12 and third nationally. Gray has connected on 56-of-87 on two-pointers and is averaging 8.8 points coupled with 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

Thomas Brandsma, Shadell Millinghaus, Norense Odiase, Niem Stevenson and Matthew Temple round out Texas Tech's 11-man playing rotation. Temple has posted 11.0 points per game during his two games played in the state of Oklahoma last season, while Millinghaus and Stevenson have combined for eight games in double figures.

About Oklahoma
The Sooners freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 66.5 percent of the team's scoring during Oklahoma's first four Big 12 games. OU is averaging close to 80.0 points with its leading scorer Woodard on the floor compared to around 60.0 points without him.

Woodard had started in 115 straight games before he missed the Auburn game on Dec. 21 due to injury. He is expected to see an increase in minutes after he tallied seven points, five rebounds and five assists during the Kansas game. Woodard has eclipsed the 20-point plateau four times this season. His 16.6 points would be third whereas his 3.7 assists would be 12th in the Big 12 if he qualified for the league rankings. He poured in 25 points against Texas Tech last season in Lubbock.

Christian James has bumped his scoring average from 2.9 points to 10.8 points per game between his freshman and sophomore seasons. He has dialed up 26 of his 57 field goals from three-point territory, while his 47.3 percent shooting clip checks in third on the Big 12 leaderboard. James has secured double figures in 10 games, most recently an 11-point effort versus then No. 4 Baylor in the Big 12 opener.

Rashard Odomes and Kameron McGusty have picked up their play in Big 12 action where they've ranked 1-2 on the Oklahoma scoring list en route to a combined for 21.6 points per game. The pair has teamed up for five games with 10-plus points highlighted by McGusty's 20-point outburst at Kansas State last Saturday.

On the interior, Khadeem Lattin has been a force with a balanced 8.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.6 steals per game. He has registered 11 of his 32 blocks in Oklahoma's opening four Big 12 games. Lattin swatted a career-best eight blocks during last season's meeting with the Red Raiders in Norman.

Kristian Doolittle has compiled 7.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He is the first freshman to consistently start for the Sooners since Woodard in 2013-14.

"We expect Oklahoma to play the best game of its season on Saturday," Beard said. "Jordan Woodard is the heart and soul, leader and best player on their team. He's back, and he's healthy. They had a nine point lead at halftime against Kansas with him back in the lineup. We nothing but respect for their Hall of Fame coach. We know we're going to have to play very well and expect a very tough road game."

Up Next
Texas Tech continues a stretch of three of four games at home and faces TCU on Wednesday. Tip time is set for 6:30 p.m. CT from the United Supermarkets Arena, and the game will be televised by FOX Sports Southwest along the FOX Sports Go 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 along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.