Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 4, 2020 ) Oklahoma State 50, Texas Tech 85

Coming off its largest ever margin of victory in a Big 12 contest, No. 24 Texas Tech will look to extend its win streak to four games Saturday when it visits Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders avenged an 11-point Jan. 4 loss to TCU with an 88-42 triumph on Monday, scoring more points in each half (45 in the first, 43 in the second) than the Horned Frogs did the entire game.

“Tonight we played, in times of the game, about as well as we can play,” Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard told reporters Monday. “Tonight was a game for us to try to play better against an opponent that beat us a few weeks ago, so I thought the guys responded to the opportunity we had tonight.” The Red Raiders scored 33 points off 20 TCU turnovers while committing only six themselves, and knocked down a season-best 13 triples on 59.1-percent accuracy. Oklahoma State, who is second-to-last in the conference in both 3-pointers made (147) and 3-point percentage (30.2), knocked down only two triples on a season-low eight attempts Tuesday against Kansas State, but earned a 64-59 road victory and shot over 50 percent from the floor for the first time during conference play. Sophomore Yor Anei registered a team-high 15 points and added seven rebounds in 26 minutes against the Wildcats as the Cowboys improved to 9-2 this season when the forward surpasses the 20-minute threshold.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: CBS

ABOUT TEXAS TECH (16-8, 7-4 Big 12): Junior Davide Moretti went 4-for-6 from downtown en route to a team-high 17 points in Monday’s blowout as he is the NCAA’s active leader in free-throw percentage (91.2) and leads the Big 12 in the category this season (89.5). Freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey, who is scoring a team-best 15.8 points per game, matched Moretti with 17 points against TCU while sophomore Kyler Edwards knocked down four triples and finished with 14 points. The Red Raiders lead the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy (35.6 percent) as well as assists per game (15.8) and turnovers forced (16.54).

ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE (12-12, 2-9): Anei shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field Monday - including his first career 3-pointer – and recorded a block for the 49th time in 56 career games. Sophomore Isaac Likekele finished with six points, seven boards and five assists against the Wildcats as the multi-faceted guard is averaging 10.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals over his last eight games. Senior Cameron McGriff has hit double-digits in scoring in seven straight Big 12 contests and leads the squad with 11.8 points and 7.5 boards during league play – up from his non-conference averages of 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Red Raiders F TJ Holyfield leads the team with 1.54 blocks per game and has swatted 16 in his past four contests.

2. The Cowboys suffered their fourth largest defeat in school history on Jan. 4 with an 85-50 setback to the Red Raiders, but Oklahoma State owns a 44-23 advantage in the all-time series and it is 23-5 in Stillwater.

3. Texas Tech ranks second in the conference in scoring offense (73.5) and fourth in scoring defense (62.8).

PREDICTION: Texas Tech 74, Oklahoma State 63