Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders dismiss Cowboys with relative ease

Jumping out to a 10-0 lead to start the game and a 15-point edge at halftime on Thursday night, the Texas Tech basketball team had little trouble in dismissing the Oklahoma State Cowboys 78-57 in Lubbock.  Moving to 3-1 in Big 12 play and 13-3 overall, the No. 19 team in the nation validated the two top-10 upsets that it has pulled in the last week by avoiding the classic trap game and continuing to play with passion and extreme effort on both ends of the floor.

Led by Kevin Obanor’s 17 points, the Red Raiders had four double-figure scorers on the night as the offense continued to flourish despite still being without leading scorer T.J. Shannon, who missed his seventh consecutive game with back spasms.

Still, even without Shannon, Tech managed to shoot 50% from the floor and 39.1% from 3-point range on their way to their third-straight win.  And after Oklahoma State tied the game at 21-21 in the first half, it was a game that was never in doubt as Tech would go on a 10-1 run in the immediate aftermath to restore their comfortable margin.

This was the type of game that Tech needed to have in the middle contest of three games in five days as no starter had to play over 29 minutes.  Thus, Tech should be as fresh as possible heading into Saturday’s game at Kansas State, a game that will be Tech’s fifth game in ten days.  So let’s take a look at some specific takeaways from the latest Red Raider victory.

The defense dominates again

The Red Raiders once again played the type of elite defense that has become their calling card over the past handful of seasons and which has carried them to their recent success in 2022.  Holding the Cowboys to just 32.1% from the floor overall and 28.6% from beyond the arc, Tech choked the life out of a Cowboy team that entered the game already offensively challenged.

But it wasn’t just the Cowboys’ lack of scoring punch that led to their meager showing on Thursday. Rather, much of the credit must go to a Red Raider team that forced 15 turnovers, came up with eight steals, and blocked four shots.

This season, Tech has allowed just one opponent, Providence, to surpass the 70-point mark.  What’s more, this was the eighth foe to be held under 60 points by Mark Adams’ team this year.

Obanor getting hot

Criticized for his play against major opponents early in the season (and justifiably so), Kevin Obanor played his second-straight impactful game for the Red Raiders on Thursday.  With a team-high 17 points, he followed up his 13-point effort against Baylor with another efficient and effective game.

Prior to these past two outings, the transfer from Oral Roberts had been more of a role player this year when facing major opponents such as Tennessee, Providence, and Gonzaga as he averaged just right around 10 points per game in those three contests.  What’s more, prior to the Baylor game, he managed just one double-figure scoring game in his previous six.

After going 3-5 from 3-point range on Thursday, Obanor is shooting 50% from deep in his last two games, something that Tech desperately needs him to continue to do as he remains the team’s best 3-point weapon.  And if he can continue to play at this level, it will only make the Red Raiders that much more difficult to handle in Big 12 play.

Almost through the early gauntlet

When Tech’s January 1 game with Oklahoma State was rescheduled to Thursday night, many wondered how the Red Raiders would manage this brutal stretch of five games in ten days with three of those games coming against top-11 teams and with Tech playing shorthanded.  In fact, some were simply hoping the Red Raiders would be able to scratch out a pair of wins during that time to keep their head above water.

Now, after dominating the Cowboys, Tech is 3-1 in this ten-day span with a chance to go 4-1 with a win over Kansas State (which is winless in Big 12 play thus far) on Saturday.  Doing so would have to be considered a huge victory for Adams and his squad.

A 4-1 record through these five games would give Tech a legitimate shot at competing for the Big 12 regular-season title, especially being as the Red Raiders have already hung a loss on both of the two conference favorites, KU and Baylor. Playing in Manhattan, Kansas is never easy so we can’t assume anything in Tech’s next game.  But there is a very realistic shot that Tech will come out of this brutal stretch of games in first place in the Big 12 and that is far more than most expected when this condensed portion of the schedule began.