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Texas Tech basketball: Four critical games in second-half of Big 12 play

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - JANUARY 26: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders positions his players during the second half of the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on January 26, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Arkansas 67-64. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - JANUARY 26: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders positions his players during the second half of the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks on January 26, 2019 at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Arkansas 67-64. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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An overview of Chesapeake Energy Arena  (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
An overview of Chesapeake Energy Arena  (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) /

February 25th at Oklahoma

We learned first-hand on Tuesday that the Oklahoma Sooners are not a team to be taken lightly.  They pushed Tech to the brink of a loss in Lubbock before falling 69-61 and when the teams meet again north of the Red River, Beard and his team will have their hands full.

There will be one twist though and it could help the Red Raiders.  That’s the fact that the game will not be played on the OU campus at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Rather, the teams will meet at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA.  That essentially neutralizes the advantage the Sooners have in regards to playing in their home gym.

They have already played on the Thunder’s court once this year, a 63-62 victory over Mississippi State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.  Still, the Sooners would likely be much more comfortable playing this critical game in the arena they play or practice in on a daily basis.

What’s more, the OU basketball crowds haven’t exactly been filling the 11,000-seat Lloyd Noble Center leading us to believe that the atmosphere in the 18,000-seat NBA arena will be less than electric.  That too should help Tech.

But think about how important this game will be for the Sooners.  After losing to Tech earlier this week, Lon Kreuger’s team is the definition of a bubble team thus, claiming a Quadrant 1 win over Tech would be a potentially season-defining moment.

It’s interesting to wonder how playing outside of their home gym will impact the predominantly jump-shooting Sooners.  As we saw on Tuesday, they live and die by the outside shooting of their two top marksmen, Bradey Manek and Austin Reaves.

That duo was just a combined 9-25 the last time they played in Chesapeake Energy Arena with Reaves going just 3-14.  Hopefully, he remains cold when Tech comes calling and that the strange decision to play an important conference game away from campus backfires because beating the Sooners in a road game would be another Quadrant 1 win for the Red Raiders as it stands right now.

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