Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Travel To No. 24 Oklahoma
January 27, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Devaugntah Williams will lead Texas Tech against Oklahoma. He is coming off of a career-high 22 points against Iowa State.
January 27, 2015
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NORMAN, Okla. - Texas Tech continues its run through the gauntlet, as the Red Raiders travel to face No. 24 Oklahoma on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The game with the Sooners is the second of eight against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 over the next nine games on the Red Raiders' schedule.
"We have another tough opponent ahead of us in Oklahoma," said Red Raider head coach Tubby Smith. "The Sooners are well-coached and do a lot of things well. For us to be successful, we will have to continue to play within ourselves and execute the way I know we can."
The Red Raiders are coming off of a 78-73 upset of No. 9 Iowa State at United Supermarkets Arena on Saturday. Texas Tech attacked the Cyclones from the opening tip and went on an amazing 13-minute run to open the game.
During the first 13 minutes against Iowa State, Texas Tech turned a 7-3 deficit into a 29-10 lead. Smith had installed a new hybrid motion offense in the previous game against Oklahoma State and saw it executed to perfection to open the game against the Cyclones.
"We did a good job of executing our offense against Iowa State," added Smith. "We were not looking to shoot that many 3s, but players were open coming off of the screens."
Texas Tech shot a season-high 24 3-pointers against Iowa State, converting a season-high 11 from deep. Leading the charge from deep was junior guard Toddrick Gotcher, who made a career-high 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Robert Turner and Devaugntah Williams each connected on 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
After being mired in a shooting slump the previous four games (29.3 percent), Texas Tech shot 41.5 percent against Iowa State.
"We have been working with Coach Pooh (Williamson) and Coach Smith on our fundamentals," said Gotcher. "It has really paid off. Guys were doing a better job of coming off screens and getting good looks."
Oklahoma is a different challenge in itself, as the Sooners rely on a strong defense. The Sooners rank fourth nationally in defensive rebounding. In fact, Ryan Spangler (6.0) and Isaiah Cousins (4.4) average 10 defensive rebounds per game as a tandem. Overall, the Sooners pull down 39.1 rebounds a game. But Oklahoma is not one dimensional. They are 28th nationally in blocked shots (5.1 per game), 22nd in defensive field goal percentage (38.1 percent) and 44th in scoring margin (+9.5 points per game).
The Sooners are the second-most veteran team in the Big 12, whereas the Red Raiders are the second youngest team in the Big 12. The Sooners are led by 6-4 guard Buddy Heild, who is averaging 17.8 points per game. He also contributes 5.4 boards, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Cousins, another 6-4 guard, adds 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists, while Spangler chips in 9.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Jordan Woodard adds another 8.3 points and 4.5 assists each night. The fifth starter is 6-8 forward Tayshawn Thomas, who adds 11.0 points, 5.7 boards and 1.5 blocks per game.
After utilizing a deep bench, Smith has pulled back the reigns and reduced the rotation to nine players after using as many as 13 earlier in the season.
Williams, who is coming off a career-high 22 points against Iowa State, leads Texas Tech with 11.0 points per game, while adding 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Turner adds 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists, while Gotcher comes off the bench to add 6.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
The stalwart of the Red Raider squad is freshman forward Zach Smith, who leads the team with 26.6 minutes per game. Smith averages 5.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, but what he does best is alter shots.
Smith has demonstrated the ability to affect an opponent's offense. The 6-8 freshman leads Texas Tech in blocks (32) and blocks per game (1.68). In all, Smith either blocks, forces a player to alter his shot or cause another pass at least 10 times per game. Smith is now within five blocks of tying the Texas Tech freshman record for blocks at 37. The record was set by Will Flemons during the 1989-90 season.
