Red Raider Preview: Oklahoma State

Saturday, January 21

United Supermarkets Arena

1:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

Oklahoma State

Tickets

January 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Game19OklahomaStateNotes

The Red Raiders will look for back-to-back Big 12 wins for the first time this season.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's basketball team starts the middle third of its Big 12 slate and takes on Oklahoma State during its first of four consecutive weekend home game Saturday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

Tip time is set for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNU in addition to being available on 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 (14-4, 3-3 Big 12) enters the weekend in a four-way tie for fourth place with Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU in the Big 12 standings. The Red Raiders are coming off a 75-69 victory over TCU on Wednesday where Texas Tech scored 11 of the game's final 16 points over the last 3:08 off the clock.

The Cowboys (10-8, 0-6 Big 12) have lost their opening six Big 12 outings with five of the decisions being a two possession game or less inside the final five minutes under first-year coach Brad Underwood. Oklahoma State possesses a potent offense which ranks second in the Big 12 and eighth nationally at 88.1 points per game.

Texas Tech enters the weekend as one of four programs nationally to hold undefeated marks at home joining Baylor, Duke and UCLA. The Red Raiders earned their first series sweep over Oklahoma State since the 1996-97 season after winning a 63-61 overtime decision in Lubbock and a 71-61 matchup in Stillwater a season ago.

"Records can be very misleading especially this early in the race in the Big 12," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "Oklahoma State might be one of the biggest cases to support in my whole career to support that. They are the best winless team that I've ever seen. They've been in four one-possession games and five close games late. They are two or three game winning streak away from getting right back in the race. In my opinion, they have two all-conference type players and four or five guys on the roster that will play professionally at some level. Phil Forte is one of the best college players to play in the Big 12 so the talents there, and we know the coaching is there. Brad is one of the best coaches in college basketball. He's been doing it for a long time winning at different levels as a head coach. His teams at Stephen F. Austin were well documented, and everyone in the Big 12 knows what he's building at Oklahoma State. Good players, good coach. We're going to have to play very well."
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. Tickets can be exchanged following the men's game for a complimentary ticket to the Lady Raiders matchup against No. 12 Texas which tips at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Saturday's game is Star Wars Day at the United Supermarkets Arena. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to take pregame photos with their favorite Star Wars characters on the concourse. The first 1,500 students in attendance will receive a "May the Beard Be With You" T-Shirt. Complimentary food and drink will be provided in the Student Lounge while supplies last.

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 tucked away three Big 12 home victories against No. 7 West Virginia, No. 25 Kansas State and TCU. The three decisions have been tightly contested and decided by an average of 2.7 points.

Texas Tech continues to rank among the NCAA Top 30 in field goal percentage (50.0 – 11th), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41 – 20th), turnovers per game (11.2 – 26th) and rebounding margin (+6.7 – 29th).

Keenan Evans has scorched the nets en route to a career-best seven-game run in double figures. He has improved his average to 16.2 points per game in conference games which is 6th in the Big 12 rankings. Evans hit the 20-point mark for the third time this season with an even 20 versus TCU last time out. He has buried 19 of his 31 three-pointers in his last nine games and his 48.4 percent ratio is second on the Big 12 list.

Zach Smith has registered 16.6 points per game, connected on 30-of-51 from the floor and matched his career-long streak of five games in a row with 10-plus points. He has sank 58.9 of his field goals, fourth in the Big 12 and good enough for 26th nationally. Smith also rates inside the Big 12 Top 5 in rebounds (7.8 – 4th), blocks (1.7 – 5th) and double-doubles (5 – 4th). He has compiled 121 career blocks, second on the program's all-time list, only behind Tony Battie with 162 career stuffs.

Anthony Livingston and Aaron Ross give Texas Tech four players in double figures with 11.7 points and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Livingston has delivered 32 of his 72 field goals from three-point territory where his 40.5 shooting percentage is 10th on the Big 12 leaderboard. Ross has tallied double figures eight times and his 93.8 free throw percentage in league games is tops in the Big 12.

Justin Gray and Devon Thomas have started the last 14 games for the Red Raiders. Thomas has had a banner senior year with 68 assists versus 15 turnovers. His 4.53 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the Big 12 and third in the nation. Thomas has managed 5.6 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game for the season. Gray piled up a Big 12 season's best 18 points along with six rebounds against TCU. He has knocked down 64-of-98 on two-point attempts, while his 19 blocks are second on the team.
Thomas Brandsma, Shadell Millinghaus, Norense Odiase, Niem Stevenson and Matthew Temple round out Texas Tech's 11-man playing rotation. The duo of Millinghaus and Stevenson provided eight games with double digit points whereas Temple matched his Big 12 career-high with 11 points at Oklahoma State last season.

"You have to attack," Beard said. "You can't go into the game against teams like Oklahoma State and West Virginia thinking that you're going to run this play or this offense. At some point, you have to put your head down and go make a play, or put your head up and go make a play with a good pass. It's a balance between what we would like to do offensively, but we know against pressure defense we're going to have to have guys making plays too."

About Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are led by one of the Big 12's most explosive trios in Jeffrey Carroll, Jawun Evans and Phil Forte III. They have amassed a combined 47.2 points per game and are rated among the Big 12's Top 11.

Carroll is the only Big 12 player to be ranked inside the Big 12's Top 7 in scoring (17.2 – 4th), rebounding (7.1 – 7th) and field goal percentage (58.4 – 5th). He has dialed up 20-plus points eight times this season highlighted by his last three outings. Carroll matched his career-high with 24 points versus Kansas State last time out.

Evans, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year, has garnered 18.3 points, 5.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Naismith Trophy and Cousy Award Watch List member also has notched seven games of over 20 points and racked up a trio of games of over 30 points. Evans collected his first career double with 15 points and 11 assists versus West Virginia on Dec. 30.

Forte III has been deadly from three-point territory with 47 treys during his redshirt senior year. He has hit multiple treys in 15 of 18 games and reached double figures 14 times fueled by three games of 20 or more points. Forte III also paces the Big 12 with a near automatic 94.7 free throw clip and has six career games in double figures against the Red Raiders.

Oklahoma State also has solid scoring options in Leyton Hammonds (7.7 PPG), Lindy Waters II (6.8 PPG), Brandon Averette (5.8 PPG) and Mitchell Solomon (5.2 PPG). Solomon has upped his marks to 13.0 points per game and gone 9-of-12 from the floor in his last two games.

"Brad's teams really like to pressure," Beard said. "They don't want you to play comfortable at all. On offense, they aren't just going to let you pass it from a-to-b without having to work. There is going to be a lot of denial in the passing lanes. They've also played multiple defenses this year with a 3-2 zone. We are going to have to play against pressure for 40 minutes. We are going to have to play against changing defenses. Most importantly, we are going to have to play against good players. They have three talented scorers, and Jeffery Carroll is one of the most improved players in the Big 12. I think first you have to give their coaching staff some credit. Then obviously, you have to give him a lot of credit. He's a legitimate all-conference player in the Big 12."

Up Next
Texas Tech will travel to its third ranked opponent and meets No. 6 Baylor on Wednesday. Tip time is on-tap for 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPNEWS along with 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 along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.