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After winning three straight, the Oklahoma State Cowboys (17-10, 7-8) find themselves with a three-game losing streak headed into Saturday's game with the Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-17, 2-14). The Cowboys will be playing the Raiders in Lubbock, who currently have a 2-6 conference record on their home court. A Cowboy win would make the Pokes 8-1 against teams from Texas this season.
The Cowboys are coming off of an embarrassing 73-63 loss against #23 West Virginia on Saturday. Le'Bryan Nash struggled for the majority of the game, and Phil Forte, while ending the day with 10 points, only took three shots from the field. Juwan Staten led all scorers with 22 points, and his Mountaineers handed OSU one of the ugliest losses in recent Cowboy memory.
OSU COWBOYS PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | PLAYER | GP | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| G | Anthony Hickey Jr. | 27 | 29.7 | 9.3 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 0.42 | 0.41 | 0.36 |
| G | Phil Forte III | 27 | 33.9 | 16.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 0.44 | 0.86 | 0.41 |
| G | Jeff Newberry | 27 | 21.0 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 0.40 | 0.79 | 0.34 |
| F | Le'Bryan Nash | 25 | 31.4 | 16.8 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 0.45 | 0.79 | 0.11 |
| F | Michael Cobbins | 24 |
27.2 | 6.9 | 5.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.62 | 0.58 | 0.0 |
Texas Tech is coming off of a 71-54 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs. Keenan Evans led all Texas Tech scorers with 10 points, and while the Raiders shot a slightly substandard 34% from the field, they struggled from the three point line, ending the night 1-for-12 from beyond the arc. TCU's Kyan Anderson led his Frogs to their third consecutive Big 12 home game at the Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, the first of which coming against the Cowboys on February 14.
Texas Tech red raiders PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | PLAYER | GP | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TPG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| G | Toddrick Gotcher | 28 |
23.1 |
7.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.37 | 0.70 | 0.36 |
| G | Keenan Evans | 28 | 17.8 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.37 | 0.74 | 0.29 |
| F | Zach Smith | 27 | 27.8 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.44 | 0.61 | 0.25 |
| F | Norense Odiase | 27 | 21.2 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.50 | 0.51 | 0.0 |
| C | Isaiah Manderson | 27 | 13.6 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.52 | 0.50 | 0.0 |
This is the second time this season that these two teams have played each other. The Pokes and the Raiders played each other at Gallagher-Iba Arena on January 21, with OSU prevailing 63-43. After a tight first half, Oklahoma State held the Red Raiders to 18 points in the second period. Nash and Forte ended the game with a combined 31 points while Jeff Newberry contributed 13 points of his own. TTU guard Keenan Evans, the only Raider player in double figures, led his team with 18 points.
Keys To The Game
Rebound, Rebound, Rebound
In the past two games, the Cowboys have been outrebounded 81-48 by the opponent. The Cowboys are currently dead last in the Big 12 in rebounding, averaging almost 33 boards a game. Offensively, they have only collected less than 27% of available offensive boards this year. Their rebounding on the defensive side isn't much better, and ISU forward Jameel McKay made everyone very aware of that a week ago. If the Cowboys want to dig themselves out of this losing streak, they must find a way to get some production on the glass, and going against an average rebounding team such as TTU will certainly help.
Re-Discover Forte
In the past two weeks, Phil Forte's open shot count has plummeted, with defenses focusing in on him in this guard-oriented offense. Every time he comes off of a screen or handoff of any kind, there's always a defender on top of him. In order to close out this season on a positive note, Coach Ford and the Cowboys must find creative ways to get Forte the ball. There have been plenty of other teams in the course of history with talented shooters like Forte, and many of those teams found ways to get their best player open looks. Now that we know that it is possible, let's hope that it happens soon.
Game Information
WHERE: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, TX
WHEN: 4:00 PM ET
TV: ESPNews / WatchESPN
RADIO: Cowboy Radio Network / TuneIn Radio App
VIEW FROM THE ENEMY: Viva The Matadors
Prediction
OSU has struggled, yes, and the Red Raiders have had a handful of impressive games at home. Still, the Cowboys proved in January that they were the better team, and a change of venue in this situation shouldn't change that. This game won't be an easy one, as the Pokes have really struggled, but they should find a way to win. If not, attendance for the Cowboys' Senior Night might be subpar, to say the least.
Oklahoma State 67, Texas Tech 59
Make sure you head back here to CRFF for the postgame recap!