Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
Oklahoma Sooners (9-5) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-4)
The Oklahoma Sooners head to United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday night to square off against the Texas Tech Raiders in the highly-anticipated Big 12 Conference showdown, as both teams search for their first victory in the conference play.
Texas Tech aims for its third consecutive victory over Oklahoma. The Red Raiders open as 4-point home favorites, while the totals sit at 132.5 points.
After losing 70-69 to the No. 6 Texas Longhorns in their Big 12 Conference opener on New Year’s Eve, the Oklahoma Sooners (9-5; 0-2 conf.) suffered a 63-60 defeat to the No. 25 Iowa State Cyclones this past Wednesday. Oklahoma covered a 3-point spread against Texas, but the Sooners upset their backers as 4-point favorites over Iowa State.
The Sooners rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit against the Cyclones, and we had a tie at 58-58 with 42 seconds remaining in the second. Caleb Grill made a crucial 3-pointer for Iowa State, and Osun Osunniyi made a couple of free throws to give the Cyclones a 63-60 lead with eight seconds left, while Tanner Groves blew a chance to force overtime for the Sooners.
Groves finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Jalen Hill dropped 16 points on Iowa State to go with six rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Grant Sherfield, who leads Oklahoma with 17.3 points per game this season, had four points and four personal fouls in 27 minutes on the floor.
Nothing but net ??@Kbj_vi buries his second triple of the night ??
?? ESPN2 | https://t.co/3NEw3MLGgj pic.twitter.com/wPBSTwMc31
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 5, 2023
The Sooners have won three of their final five games of the non-conference schedule, losing against Villanova 70-66 and No. 9 Arkansas 88-78 in the process while outlasting Kansas City 75-53, Central Arkansas 87-66, and Florida 62-53. Oklahoma is now No. 61 in the NCAA NET Rankings and No. 37 in the KenPom rankings. The Sooners are 32nd in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (111.1 points per 100 possessions) and 56th in adjusted defensive efficiency (95.2).