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Oklahoma State shoots for another upset at No. 14 Texas Tech (Jan 23, 2018)
A team like Oklahoma State can build a decent NCAA Tournament resume pretty quickly in the Big 12 Conference.
The Cowboys (13-6, 3-4 Big 12) claimed a major bullet-point victory by defeating then-No. 4 Oklahoma 83-81 in overtime on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. Now, Oklahoma State gets a chance to validate the home win by going on the road against No. 14 Texas Tech on Tuesday.
Cowboys first-year coach Mike Boynton knows it won't be an easy task, but it's also crucial that his team pick up a few Big 12 road wins. So far, Oklahoma State has lost at Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor in its three ventures outside Stillwater.
"We haven't figured out this road thing yet," Boynton said in the postgame press conference after the win over the Sooners. "We don't get to play any NCAA Tournament games in this building unfortunately. So we've got to prove that we're capable and find a way to win on the road."
Meanwhile, Texas Tech (15-4, 4-3) discovered last week just how fast a team can be knocked off its pedestal in the Big 12. The Red Raiders lost road games at Texas by nine points and Iowa State by 18.
Texas Tech came out hot to start the second half against Iowa State and erased an eight-point deficit in less than four minutes. The Red Raiders used a 10-1 run to take a 35-34 lead with 16:33 left. But the Cyclones punched back with a 23-5 surge that helped them seal the win.
"Iowa State could beat a lot of people in college basketball the way they played tonight," Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said in the postgame press conference. "They shared the ball, they defended, they played spirited. And when we gave them our best punch in the second half, they got back up.
"That's what I'm really looking forward to with our team. Can we respond to this adversity?"
Texas Tech struggled on offense in its losses to the Longhorns and Cyclones and shot below 40 percent in both games. Leading scorer Keenan Evans, who averages 16.6 points, had a combined 18 points in the losses.
The Red Raiders are playing without starting forward Zach Smith, who suffered a broken bone in his right foot early in conference play and will be out indefinitely. But Texas Tech got a player back as freshman forward Malik Ondigo scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in 18 minutes. Followers of the Red Raiders program were starting to figure Ondigo would get a medical redshirt this season, but that wasn't Beard's intention. Ondigo was able go through a couple of full practices before playing against Iowa State.
"(Ondigo is) going to be a big part of what we do," Beard said. "He's going to play in every half the rest of the season. He's a guy that we have a lot of confidence in."
Oklahoma State guard Kendall Smith came off the bench to score 20 points and gave the Cowboys a huge boost in their victory over Oklahoma. Oklahoma State likely needs Smith, a graduate transfer from Cal State Northridge, to be a consistent scorer to continue building their NCAA Tournament resume.
Before the win over the Sooners, Smith managed a total of four points in the previous two games.
