Date: Saturday, January 14th
Time: 7:30 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-2, 2-2)
Bad Guys: Oklahoma Sooners (6-9, 0-4)
Location: Lloyd Noble Center | Norman, Oklahoma
TV/Stream: ESPNU (WatchESPN App)
Radio/Stream: 97.3 FM/104.3 FM/950 AM
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
|---|---|---|
| POINT GUARD | Devon Thomas (6-0/170) | 5.0 / 3.9* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Kennan Evans (6-3/180) | 13.9 / 3.3* |
| SMALL FORWARD | Justin Gray (6-6/210) | 8.8 / 5.4 |
| POWER FORWARD | Zach Smith (6-8/220) | 12.7 / 7.8 |
| CENTER | Anthony Livingston (6-9/260) | 11.9 / 4.4 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Aaron Ross (6-8/225) | 11.3 / 3.2 |
| SEVENTH MAN | Niem Stevenson (6-6/205) | 7.0 / 2.7 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Shadell Millinghaus (6-2/195) | 6.3 / 2.8 |
| NINTH MAN | Norense Odiase (6-9/255) | 2.7 / 1.0 |
| TENTH MAN | Matthew Temple (6-10/240) | 3.1 / 1.8 |
| THE STARTERS | Pts / Reb | |
| POINT GUARD | Jordan Woodard (6-0/187) | 16.6 / 3.7* |
| SHOOTING GUARD | Kameron McGusty (6-5/191) | 7.5 / 1.5 |
| SMALL FORWARD | Rashard Odomes (6-6/215) | 9.6 / 3.7 |
| POWER FORWARD | Kristian Doolittle (6-7/236) | 7.1 / 5.5 |
| CENTER | Khadeem Lattin (6-9/212) | 8.4 / 5.9 |
| THE BENCH | Pts / Reb | |
| SIXTH MAN | Darrion Strong-Moore (6-1/180) | 4.3 / 1.9* |
| SEVENTH MAN | Christian James (6-4/218) | 10.8 / 4.0 |
| EIGHTH MAN | Jamuni McNeace (6-10/215) | 4.2 / 4.7 |
| NINTH MAN | Jordan Shepherd (6-2/180) | 3.9 / 1.5* |
* Assists.
1. KenPom has the Sooners as the 78th best team in the nation, 130th in AdjO and 59th in AdjD. That’s not a bad ranking considering the Sooners record and is an indication that the Sooners are better than their record indicates. Meanwhile, Texas Tech is 29th overall, 28th in AdjO and 57th in AdjD. I think before the K-State game, the Red Raiders were in the 40’s and that’s a pretty big drop. I should also mention that the KenPom ratings have Texas Tech behind K-State despite the win. Keep in mind, there’s no human element to these numbers, it’s just math, but it’s interesting to say the least. TCU and Oklahoma State are right behind Texas Tech, at 32nd and 33rd overall.
2. The Red Raiders have advantages over the Sooners in terms of scoring and defense, are a better shooting team by a significant margin, 56.6% to 49.6%. The Red Raiders only allow 63 points a game, while the Sooners give up 63. Oklahoma is a slightly better defensive rebounding team, but that’s the extent as to how and where Oklahoma has an advantage.
3. Woodard expects to return full-time for the Sooners. Woodard is incredibly important and he came off the bench against Kansas where he played about 24 minutes and the Sooners only lost by 9 to Kansas at home. That’s not bad and probably a pretty good indication as to how important Woodard is to the team. This is a young team for Oklahoma and Woodard somewhat rights the ship when he plays. The Sooners will be much better than their record if Woodard plays.
4. Some updates for Texas Tech, which is that Norense Odiase just isn’t right and the staff is seriously considering taking a medical redshirt on Odiase if he’s not going to be right and waste an entire season on him being iffy. Additionally, Justin Gray tweaked his Achilles in the game against West Virginia and I’ve wondered why Gray has seemed off the past few games and that’s a pretty good reason why. Gray has seemingly just disappeared offensively, but as head coach Chris Beard has mentioned, Gray does so many little things that this team depends upon.
5. Head coach Chris Beard discusses what this team needs to improve upon in the second half of the season as well as how Woodard impacts the Sooners:
🏀🎥: Here’s your Bench Talk with Beard ahead of our road battle against the Sooners. #WreckEm #4to1 pic.twitter.com/iE3CoTcV7e
— TexasTech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) January 13, 2017