Oklahoma basketball: Sooners gunning to reverse earlier Red Raider loss

A month ago in Lubbock, Texas, Oklahoma basketball couldn’t hold on to a seven-point second-half lead and ended up losing to the then eighth-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders by the same margin.

On Saturday, the Sooners will have the opportunity to avenge that earlier loss when they play host to the Red Raiders at Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma (15-8, 3-7) has lost three of its last four games at home and five of its last seven games overall, and is hungry to stop the bleeding.

Texas Tech (18-5) is currently tied for fourth place in the Big 12 standings with Kansas, both with a 6-4 conference record, but the Red Raiders have lost their last three conference road games.

The Red Raiders have gone just 4-4 and fallen to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 since the Jan. 8 meeting between OU and Texas Tech, but they are still a very dangerous team that should make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, largely because of the type of game they play.

Oklahoma leads the all-time series with Texas Tech 39-24 and is 24-7 against the Red Raiders in Norman. The Sooners have won seven of the last eight played between the two at the Lloyd Noble Center, including a 10-point win last season.

Texas Tech scouting report

The Red Raiders are very sound on the offensive end, but they are an outstanding defensive team, and that has been the biggest factor in Texas Tech’s success this season. Coached by Chris Beard, a longtime assistant of Bobby Knight when he was leading the program at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders are the third-best team in the country in scoring defense, holding their opponents to just 57.1 points a game and they lead the nation in field-goal percentage defense (36.2).

Because it plays such outstanding defense, Texas Tech is able to create offense from turnovers. The Red Raiders average 7.3 steals per game, second only to Kansas State.

Sophomore Jarett Culver leads the Red Raiders in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game, third best in the Big 12, and they have two other starters, guards Matt Mooney and Davide Moretti, averaging nearly 11 points per game. Culver had 23 points and collected 13 rebounds in Texas Tech’s earlier win over the Sooners.

Christian James (15.8) and Brady Manek (11.6) are averaging in double digits in scoring for the Sooners, but their hasn’t been much consistency in the scoring column by the other OU starters and reserves of late. And the problem has been compounded because of a scoring slump by James.

Over the past three games, James has averaged under 10 points a game and shot just 25 percent from the field. He needs to regain his confidence on the offensive end, and other Sooners need to step up and contribute more offensively and defensively. OU’s success in the early season can be attributed in great part to a balanced scoring attack that made the Sooners more difficult to defend.

Bottom line

The Sooners were able to hang with the Red Raiders and were in a position to win the game in Lubbock. Oklahoma historically has been difficult to beat at home, but that has not been the case against Big 12 opponents through five conference home games this season.

Kansas State handed the Sooners a 13-point defeat, and that was followed two home dates later by a 30-point demolition delivered by the visiting Baylor Bears. Iowa State had a more difficult time on Monday, but still escaped Norman with a “W.”

Oklahoma is due for a big game, especially at home, but to do so against a very good Texas Tech bunch, the Sooners must protect the ball, prevent second-chance scoring opportunities by controlling the defensive glass and put the ball in the basket with greater consistency. A fairly simple winning formula, but something the Sooners haven’t been able to master during their recent swoon.

I have a good feeling that Texas Tech is going to find itself in the wrong place at the wrong time on Saturday. The Sooners finally ring up their 16th win.

Oklahoma 71, Texas Tech 65