Sooners Cruise Past Tech, Set Up Huge Matchup Saturday

Coming off an emotional win against Oklahoma State last Saturday, and facing a tough road test against Kansas State this coming Saturday, it was highly possible the Oklahoma Sooners would overlook lowly Texas Tech Wednesday night.

That didn't happen. The Sooners continued to show a high level of maturity, taking down the Red Raiders 81-63 at Lloyd Noble Center.

Romero Osby led the Sooners with 17 points, 15 of those coming in the second half, while freshman Buddy Hield continued to provide the Sooners with lots of energy, scoring 16 points and adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Andrew Fitzgerald had his best game of the season, scoring 12 points off the bench. Steven Pledger finished with 11 points, while Cameron Clark scored 10 points off the bench.

Texas Tech was led by Dejan Kravic, who scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Jaye Crockett was the only other Red Raider in double figures with 11 points.

It was a sluggish start to the game for both teams, with Oklahoma grabbing a 13-7 lead on a steal and layup from Isaiah Cousins. The Sooners struggled shooting the ball, hitting on just 39 percent of their shots in the first half, but were bailed out by Fitzgerald, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half to help lead the Sooners to a 34-29 lead at halftime.

In the second half, it was all about Osby and Hield, as the pair combined to score the first 21 points of the half for the Sooners, punctuated with Hield scoring five points in a matter of seconds.

Hield hit a three-pointer from the corner in front of the OU bench, and then stole the inbounds pass from Texas Tech's Jordan Tolbert and laid it in to give OU a 55-42 lead with 13:19 remaining in the game.

Kravic did his best to keep Texas Tech in the game, drawing the Red Raiders within nine points with 6:19 to play. Much like they did Saturday against Oklahoma State, the Sooners had an answer for every Red Raider run, and ended the game on a 13-4 run.

Kansas State defeated TCU Wednesday night to move to 3-0 in Big 12 play, setting up a battle in Manhattan to keep pace with Kansas atop the Big 12 standings.

Tip time for the Sooners and Wildcats is set for 3 p.m.