Texas Tech basketball: Numbers to know as Red Raiders face Sooners

Oklahoma attempted just six free throws in Lubbock

The first meeting between these teams saw the Red Raiders have an unusual night at the free-throw line.  That’s because despite being outshot 83.3% to 64.7%, Tech had a 5-point edge.

The main reason was the fact that the Sooners got to the line just six times that night, making five.  Meanwhile, the Red Raiders got there 17 times, hitting eleven.

This is a matchup of the two teams that lead the Big 12 in free-throw percentage.  OU is No. 1 at 77% while Tech is No. 2 at 75.4%.

If either has a significant edge in attempts tonight, it could very easily swing the balance of power.  That’s been a problem for Tech in recent road games.

In the last five games outside of Lubbock, Beard’s team has had an average deficit in free-throw attempts of 21.8 to 19.2.  But if you take out the Texas game when Tech held a 22-8 edge in attempts, the Red Raiders have averaged 6.7 fewer attempts per game than their opponent in the other four road contests since the January 21st game at TCU.

Shooting on average 20.4 free throws per game, the Red Raiders get to the line 1.6 times more per game than the Sooners.  That’s not a huge difference but it is indicative a season-long trend in which Tech has been more likely to score one point at a time as OU has made 66 fewer trips to the stripe than the Red Raiders.

Reaves is the man to watch when it comes to the Sooners.  He averages a team-high 5.1 free-throw attempts per game but in Lubbock, he got there just three times.

OU is a jump-shooting team and Tech needs to make them try to win tonight’s game that way.  If the Red Raiders are able to spend considerably more time at the line than the Sooners for the second time this season, it will give the boys in Scarlet and Black a serious leg up.