RECAP: No. 22 Red Raiders 85, Oklahoma State 50

Saturday, January 4

Lubbock, Texas

11 a.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

10-3,1-0Big 12

Oklahoma State

9-4,0-1Big 12

Oklahoma St.

Texas Tech

RECAP: No. 22 Red Raiders 85, Oklahoma State 50

January 04, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

By: Wes Bloomquist

LUBBOCK, Texas – Jahmi'us Ramsey scored 18 points, TJ Holyfield went for 17 and seven rebounds and Chris Clarke added double-digit rebounds for the sixth time this season to help lead No. 22 Texas Tech to an 85-50 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena for its largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game in program history.

The Red Raiders (10-3, 1-0 Big 12) opened the 18-round conference fight with four players scoring in double figures and limiting the Cowboys (9-4, 0-1 Big 12) to just 28.8 percent shooting in the game. Tech has now won 10 straight conference games after running off nine in a row last season to earn the Big 12 regular-season championship and is 11-13 all-time in Big 12 openers. Tech took a six-point halftime advantage to 51-32 lead by going on a 15-2 run to begin the second half which was highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers by Davide Moretti and Ramsey. The previously close game became a conference-opening blowout for the Red Raiders in front of 14,325 fans with another run that was at 14-0 and a score of 70-38 on a Shannon layup with 7:37 remaining in the game.

Texas Tech improved to 8-0 at home this season, has won 15 straight at home dating back to seven straight to finish last season and is now 58-5 under coach Chris Beard in Lubbock.

"These games are so hard to win," Beard said. "I was trying to explain to these young guys in the locker room a few minutes ago that winning never gets old. You don't ever take it for granted and sometimes when things go your way and you have a big margin victory you kind of forget how hard it was to win this game. I want to wish OSU a lot of good fortune this season and we'll certainly see those guys down the road in Stillwater. I have a lot of respect for their team. I've been on both sides of games like this, sometimes it steamrolls but certainly, tonight was our night we were fortunate Oklahoma State missed some shots they normally make and we had some guys plays outstanding."

Texas Tech will return to action at 8 p.m. on Tuesday against No. 6-ranked Baylor (10-1) to complete a five-game home stand at the USA before traveling to play at West Virginia next Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Bears host Texas tonight at 7 p.m. in Waco and are currently on a nine-game winning streak.

Ramsey led the team in scoring for the sixth time in nine games played after going 6-for-11 from the field and hitting four 3-pointers for the second straight game. A freshman from Arlington playing in his first conference game, Ramsey scored 10 of his 18 in the second half and is now leading the team with 17.4 points per game. Holyfield pulled down seven rebounds for the second straight games for the Red Raiders and was in double figures for the fifth time this season after going 7-for-10 from the field. He also led the team with three blocked shots and now has 14 for the season. Clarke finished the game with 10 rebounds, six points and five assists, while Moretti and Terrence Shannon, Jr. had 13 points each. Moretti and Holyfield had two 3-pointers in the game while Kevin McCullar hit one and finished with seven points to lead the reserves.

Clarke, who leads the Red Raiders with 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, has recorded six double-digit rebounding performances and now has eight games with five or more assists. Shannon scored all 13 of his points in a second half where the Red Raiders outscored the Cowboys by a 49-20 margin. A freshman from Chicago, Shannon was 5-for-7 in the second half and also added five rebounds in his first conference game. The Red Raiders finished the game with 17 assists on 30 of 55 shooting in the game and also had nine steals against the Cowboys who committed 14 turnovers. Kyler Edwards finished the game with nine points and four assists, while Ramsey had four rebounds to go along with his scoring. Tech has now had three games with a 30-plus point scoring margin of victory this season.

Cameron McGriff led OSU with nine rebounds and nine points, while Lindy Waters III scored a team-high 13 points after going 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. The Cowboys led by seven early in the game with a 9-0 run when Thomas Dziagwa hit a 3-pointer to make it 12-5. Dziagwa was limited to six points on 2 of 5 shooting on 3-pointers for OSU which was 9-for-27 from beyond the arc in the game with five coming in the first half.

Texas Tech earned a 31-point win over West Virginia at home last season and a 30-point win over Baylor in 1999 for its previous scoring margins of victory in conference play before the 35-point win on Saturday. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 54.4 percent from the field, including hitting nine 3-pointers and limiting their turnovers to only nine against the Cowboys. The win extended a five-game winning streak by Tech that started against then No. 1-ranked Louisville on Dec. 10 at Madison Square Garden before four non-conference home wins.

Texas Tech started the game on a 4-0 run and finished it on an 11-4 run to take the 36-30 lead at halftime. Clarke led the team with seven rebounds, six points and four assists at the half, while Holyfield had 11 points and three rebounds for the Red Raiders who were shooting 50.0 percent from the field and had only three turnovers. Ramsey added eight points at the break with two 3-pointers and Moretti joined Clarke with six points. OSU was 5-for-13 on 3-pointers at the break and were led by McGriff who had nine points and eight rebounds. Dziagwa had six points after going 2-for-4 on 3-pointers and Waters and Anderson had five each in the opening half where the Cowboys were shooting 32.1 percent from the field and had five turnovers.

Started the new year right.

??#4To1 | #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/EAbRXVnCjA
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 4, 2020

Round 1. ?

??#4To1 | #WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/QesQjDXhDG
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 4, 2020

QUOTES
Texas Tech Head Coach, Chris Beard
On the game against OSU: "We weren't letting them get the rebounds, those are really good players. When you're in a league like this you pull for guys. I don't like to play against coaches that I like and respect but it's part of the business but with (Cameron) McGriff, who to me is an all-conference type player, he damn near had a double-double at halftime, so it's not that we're letting them get it, you have to tip your hat to the other guys sometimes. Then (Yor) Anei, is one of the most improved players in all of college basketball. We needed to rebound better, but more so was just stay the course."

On playing against OSU: "In college basketball, you don't want to give the other team's best shooters great looks. It's impossible to keep a guy from making any shots because of the players on the floor and again, they're coaching staff knows what they're doing so we were pleased that we were competing and we were contesting shots. (Lindy) Waters, just like McGriff, my respect level for him is off the charts and he's just a guy that's going to get his, he scores in a variety of ways. We definitely had an urgency to guard the three's, it wasn't perfect, but I thought we were dialed in."

Texas Tech Forward, T.J. Holyfield
On the game against OSU: "Just preparation. The coaches got us ready to play, all of us as a team, and I had a game plan going in and I just tried to follow it the best I could. You just have to trust the process, through the good and the bad. The outcome is, you should be getting what you want if you put in the time off the court, on the court, behind all these doors. It doesn't really matter about the outcome, the process should stay the same. We came in with a game plan, not wanting to foul and trying to put pressure on certain players and that resulted in helping us out throughout the game. It's a good team win, it was great for me and Chris, it was great for all the other freshman. Just like them, this is my first Big-12 conference win. We did it all as a team, not really as individuals, but it was a good start for all of us.

Texas Tech Guard, Jahmi'us Ramsey
On the game against OSU: "We were staying locked in, making sure we stick to the game plan and like TJ said, making stops. It was really big, keep the crowd engaged, our teammates found us and put us in scoring position. I feel like we all just fed off the crowd's energy, it was there all night, we kept it going"