Perhaps no team in the deep Big 12 conference has shown more improvement than Tubby Smith’s Red Raiders this season. They current rank 28th in offensive efficiency and that is important as they get ready to do battle with the Sooners in this one.
Oklahoma has grabbed impressive wins over Texas, Iowa State and Baylor in recent weeks. But this game is going to be a tough one for them based on situation. They roll into Lubbock on Saturday and take on the Red Raiders just two days prior to playing a massive rivalry game at home on Monday against Oklahoma State.
TT is 10-9 overall and only 2-4 in conference, so they could easily be overlooked going into this one. The Sooners also devoured the Red Raiders in easy fashion during both face-offs during 2013, but this is not the same team.
Tech features three reliable scorers in Jaye Crockett, Robert Turner and Jordan Tolbert. They are one of the best offensive rebounding groups in the conference and this is a game in which they will give up virtually no size to their opponent. Additionally, their roster, outside of 7’0 center Dejan Kravic, is versatile enough to match-up with Oklahoma here.
This number opens with TT as 1.5 point favorites. I had this game at PK, but can’t disagree with the assessment. The Sooners are a hot club given some of their recent accomplishments. The Red Raiders are not a terribly deep club, but they should have a good chance here to pull what would be perceived as an upset. This match-up should tell a lot about both the focus of Lon Kruger’s team as well as how far along this Texas Tech club is.
Keep an eye on the pace in this one. Oklahoma (7th nationally in adjusted pace) is one of the fastest teams out there while Tech (309) is incredibly slow. The Red Raiders lack the sort of point guard play which would make them a great pick here, but Oklahoma is not good enough defensively to routinely force turnovers in this game.
