The rule of 85 may be the best way to describe the Oklahoma basketball matchup with Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
The Sooners face their next to last road assignment of the regular season when they travel to West Texas for a rematch with the Red Raiders, who owe one of their four conference losses to Oklahoma.
The Sooners overcame a five-point halftime deficit with a 70-percent shooting performance in the second half to defeat Texas Tech 70-55 and hand the Red Raiders the widest margin of defeat in their six losses this season.
Tuesday night’s game features a tale of opposites. While Texas Tech (21-6, 10-4) comes into the game winners of six of its last seven games and a win percentage of 85 percent, Oklahoma has been on the losing end of six of its last seven contests. That doesn’t set up well for a Sooner team that has been struggling lately and finds itself going up against the country’s 9th-ranked team on that team’s home court.
You that’s before you factor that the Red Raiders have a bit of a chip on their shoulder having lost to Oklahoma earlier.
Oklahoma leads the all-time series with the Red Raiders with a 41-29 record. The Sooners are 18-14 in games played at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock but have lost the last six there.
The game will be available on ESPN+ with Ted Emrich and Bryndon Manzer announcing.
What fans should know about the Oklahoma-Texas Tech game
- Oklahoma remains No. 2 in the Big 12 with a .479 shooting percentage.
- The Sooners are without the services of senior guard Elijah Harkless, who is out for the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury. He was averaging 10.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
- The last game out against Texas Tech, the Sooners’ Umoja Gibson scored a season-high 30 points, including 8 of 11 behind the three-point line. Since then, however, he has only scored a total of 21 points in his last three games.
- Texas Tech is the best defensive team in the Big 12 based on opponents’ field-goal percentage (.382) and ranks second in the league in scoring defense (61.1 points per game).
- Four Texas Tech players average in double figures, led by Bryson Williams (13.7). Williams is also the Big 12 leader in field-goal percentage (.530).
- The Red Raiders are 12th nationally in free throw attempts (586).
- Oklahoma ranks last in the Big 12 in turnovers per game (14.7). Texas Tech ranks 23rd in the country in turnovers forced per game (16.1). The Sooners turned the ball over 18 times in the earlier game with the Red Raiders in Norman.
Prediction
Too many things working against Oklahoma in this rematch at Texas Tech. Not the least of which is that the Red Raiders are a more talented team. Texas Tech avenges the earlier loss to the Sooners, and it could get ugly. The Oklahoma defense falls off a lot without Elijah Harkless in the lineup. The Sooners can least afford that against a team with multiple scorers like Texas Tech. Red Raiders win by double digits