RECAP: Oklahoma State 73, No. 24 Red Raiders 70

Saturday, February 15

Stillwater, Oklahoma

12 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

16-9,7-5Big 12

Oklahoma State

13-12,3-9Big 12

Texas Tech

Oklahoma St.

RECAP: Oklahoma State 73, No. 24 Red Raiders 70

February 15, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score BOX SCORE PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Oklahoma State missed its final eight shots from the field in the game but made its free throws to secure a 73-70 win over No. 24 Texas Tech on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Red Raiders (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) also went cold down the stretch by missing their final four shots, were out-rebounded by a 37-22 margin and saw the Cowboys (13-12, 3-9 Big 12) make 31 of 38 shots from the free-throw line to snap Tech's three-game winning streak. The Red Raiders will return home to host Kansas State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

"We understood what we were getting into today," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "We didn't underestimate these guys or anything. This is a team we have a lot of respect for. They have one of the best starting fives in the Big 12. They're team that's really rallying and been playing their best basketball when it matters most: February with March close. Congratulations to Oklahoma State. The better team won today. They outrebounded us, you know, 15 offensive rebounds; credit to them. They made us turn the ball over 15 times; credit to them. The got to the free-throw line twice as much as us; credit it to them. They were the more aggressive team for most of the game and they made their free throws. The story today in Stillwater is the better team won, that was Oklahoma State today."

Texas Tech won the first game against the Cowboys this season with an 85-50 win on Jan. 4 in Lubbock after sweeping the season series last year. The Red Raiders led the game 29-27 at halftime and were up by eight in the second half on a Kevin McCullar and-one conversion at 40-32 before OSU went on a 6-0 run that brought them to 48-47 on a pair of Lindy Water free throws. The Cowboys tied the game at 56 on a Isaac Likekele and-one and led 60-58 on a Likekele jumper. Down trailed by four on a Cameron McGriff basket before blows were exchanged and Tech regained the lead with a pair of Holyfield free throws to make it 67-66 before OSU hit four straight free throws to regain the lead that they would hold.

McCullar scored a career-high 15 points and led the team with five rebounds off the bench, while Davide Moretti added 15 points and Jahmi'us Ramsey had 14 for the Red Raiders who finished the game with 10 3-pointers. Ramsey and Kyler Edwards both had three 3-pointers and Moretti hit two, but a glaring discrepancy came at the free-throw line where Tech shot 60.0 percent and the Cowboys were at 81.6 percent. The Red Raiders finished the game 12-for-20 at the line including three misses in the final 10 seconds, while OSU sealed the game by hitting 31 shots from the line led by Kalib Boone who was at 12 of 14 from the line and Jonathan Laurent who went 7 of 8.

Edwards finished the game with 12 points and four assists, while Moretti led the team with five assists to go along with his 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting. Boone and Laurent led the Cowboys with 16 points each, while Cameron McGriff had nine rebounds for OSU which had the 37-22 rebounding advantage that included 15 offensive rebounds. The Red Raiders finished the game shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 43.5 percent on 3-pointers, while OSU was at 41.3 percent from the field and only 4 of 10 on 3-pointers. Ramsey, who was limited to three points in the second half and is averaging 15.8 points for the season, now has six straight games with two or more 3-pointers and 13 times this season. TJ Holyfield was limited to five points and three rebounds due to early foul trouble and fouling out at the end, while Chris Clarke had two assists and two points for the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech took a 29-27 lead into halftime after making six 3-pointers in the half and limiting the Cowboys to 33.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Ramsey had 11 points at halftime after going 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, while Edwards had eight points and three assists. Edwards was 2-for-5 on 3-pointers and Moretti had one 3-pointer and five points. McCullar led the team with four rebounds in the half and also had four points. The Red Raiders trailed 8-0 to start the game, but were able to start chipping away with Edwards hitting the first 3-pointer of the game and were within three at 14-11 when Ramsey hit his first 3-pointer. Tech took its first lead at 15-14 on a Moretti jumper and were up by three on the next possession with Edwards hitting a jumper to cap a 9-0 run. OSU followed with a 6-0 run of its own before the teams started exchanging blows, including Ramsey and Edwards hitting back-to-back 3-pointers for a 27-24 lead. The Red Raiders took the two-point lead with McCullar hitting a layup off an assist from Edwards with one second remaining on the clock.

Tech finished the first half shooting 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) and were 6-for-15 on 3-pointers, while OSU was just 3-for-7 on 3-pointers and had committed nine turnovers. Laurent led the Cowboys with seven points, while Boone had six points off the bench.

Tech, which earned a 77-63 win over Kansas State on Jan. 14 in Manhattan, Kansas, is currently 12-2 overall at home and 5-1 in Big 12 play in Lubbock but fell to 2-4 in conference play on the road with the loss. The Red Raiders will play at Iowa State on Saturday, Feb. 22 following hosting the Wildcats on Wednesday.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES
Chris Beard
On Texas Tech's warm up shirts honoring Coach Eddie Sutton:
"It's one small way we can show respect to one of the best coaches that's ever coached our game. There's a lot more important things than a basketball game. One thing that's important is that the forefathers, the ambassadors of our game, the best people that have ever coached our game should be in the hall of fame. I'm not on that panel and I really don't have much of a voice, but you asked the question and I'll proudly answer it: I think it's one of the worst things about our game. It's just wrong that Coach Eddie Sutton is not in the basketball hall of fame. He's won everywhere he's been, he's a gentleman, he's a coach's coach, his players have gone on to graduate and be productive people. Simply stated, he's one of the classiest guys I've ever known and he's a damn good basketball coach. There's nobody in the hall of fame more deserving than Coach Sutton. Today, for our team to show some respect, I'm glad that we did that."

On the 1995 reunion and the crowd's emotion having an impact on the game:
"I don't think that's what happened. I'll be real clear: I think the better basketball team won the 40-minute game today. They guarded better than us, the rebounded better than us and they made better plays when the game was on the line. They play with great poise. I think they did have a great crowd. Today was a great environment. I don't why you wouldn't want to get behind this team. Mike's got them playing great when it matters most. He's a guy that I have a lot of respect for. Today, the better game won the game."