Texas Tech 63, Oklahoma State 61
* The Flex is a shout-out to Tubby Smith’s flex offense and a place for us to set some screens, make some cuts and discuss the game.
- What a terrible start to the game. I thought for sure that Texas Tech would be absolutely blown out given how the game started. Texas Tech couldn’t muster much of any offense as the game started and found themselves down. Given how Oklahoma State plays defense, I thought that the lead would be a tough one to overcome. And truthfully, it seemed really terrible, at least in the first half, but the lead wasn’t insurmountable, it was a 10 point lead for Oklahoma State early, so it wasn’t some huge deal, but given the funk as to how players were playing offensively for Texas Tech, I had my doubts that Texas Tech would be able to claw back.
- Tubby Smith elected to start Justin Gray over Devaugntah Williams in the hopes of jump-starting that offense and defense. I’m not sure if this worked as Gray is now in a bit of a funk himself. Gray fouled out (it was an overtime game, so that’s not terrible) and only scored 2 points, while grabbing 5 boards. Not exactly the production you would hope for. Williams, meanwhile, ended up being the hero.
- Meanwhile, for Oklahoma State, the Cowboys were without their best player for the second half as Jawun Evans didn’t play in the second half.
- Texas Tech tied the game with about 3:45 left in the game on an Aaron Ross three-point shot. I thought this was the moment that Texas Tech would turn things around. Fast forward another minute and a half or so and now, Texas Tech is down by 5, 53-48 with only 1:30 left in the game. Aaron Ross grabs an offensive rebound and puts the ball back, which makes the deficit only 3.
- Toddrick Gotcher got back into form and was terrific from the three-point line. Gotcher made 4 of 7 from the field, including 4 of 6 from the three-point line, scoring 18 points. Sometimes, just hitting some of those three-point shots means the difference in winning and losing a game. Texas Tech couldn’t hit anything their last game out against Arkansas, making only 1 of 13, but being competent from the outside sure seemed to be significant today.
- With the clock winding down and Texas Tech down by three, Gotcher pump fakes, gets his defender up in the air, dribbles right and hits an absolute dagger to tie the game at 53 with about 30 seconds left in the game. Gotcher would hit another big three-point shot with three minutes left in overtime to tie up the game at 56.
- Oklahoma State has the ball and of all things, they get a flipping shot-clock violation in their last possession. That’s some clutch defense.
- Aaron Ross’ shooting helped this team claw back. Ross led the team with 22 points, going 6 of 13 from the field, 4 of 8 from the three-point line, while grabbing 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.
- Texas Tech forced Oklahoma State into 21 turnovers (okay, maybe Texas Tech didn’t force all of them, but whatever) and they only had 5 assists for the night. That’s an offense that is struggling to score and isn’t getting anything easy. The Cowboys shot 37% from the field for the game including only making 24% from the three-point line. That’s a huge improvement for Texas Tech.
- Really, no one had a good scoring game other than Ross and Gotcher. Zach Smith only had 5 points on 2 of 7. Keenan Evans did score 7 points, but he was also 2 of 7. Devaugntah Williams was only 1 of 8, but it was a big bucket. You get the idea. If not for the scoring of Ross and Gotcher, there’s just no chance for Texas Tech to be in this game.
- With 40 seconds left in overtime, Toddrick Gotcher hit yet another huge three-point shot. Nothing fancy, just a straight up dagger with a hand in his face and nice double-screen from Aaron Ross and Zach Smith game Gotcher just enough room to get that shot off.
- Devaugntah Williams would end up winning the game on a drive down the right side of the lane for a layup. Oklahoma State’s last possession was another terrible possession, dribbling around and eventually getting it to the baseline where the ball bounced out of bounds. The one thing that I can say for Williams is that he didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second. Williams received the ball, shot-faked, drove to the basket and scored the winner with 0.5 seconds left to play. An unlikely hero for sure, but I’ll take it.
- That moves Texas Tech to 3-6 in the Big 12 on the year, with Texas Tech traveling to Austin to take on Texas this weekend. Oh, and you can only watch the game if you have the LHN or you can watch it on the WatchESPN app.
