 "Photo: Sam Grenadier")
With two games already out of the way, Texas Tech guard Nick Okorie expects extra attention from now on.
After Okorie scored 18 points against Sam Houston State on Monday, two more than his 16-point effort in the season opener, Tech coach Pat Knight said Okorie will not be sneaking up on anyone for the rest of the season.
"It takes about a week or two weeks to play," Knight said. "Now you get two or three tapes on a team, now you start being able to key on guys. You have two or three games under our belts so you can see who the go-to guys are."
Okorie, who led South Plains College to an NJCAA national championship as a sophomore last season, has wasted no time in showcasing his athletic ability. His transition from junior college to starting guard for the Red Raiders has been exceptionally smooth, as Okorie has shown no problem in finding a niche with fellow guards John Roberson, Alan Voskuil and Tyree Graham.
"It's real good to be able to come in and start for Texas Tech," Okorie said, "and give them a hand and try to push the pace a little bit better, put up good shots, play defense, try to get the team going on the right foot at the beginning of the season."
Okorie's early season success has overshadowed Voskuil's struggles through two games. Tech's sharpshooter may have had a career-high 12 rebounds against Sam Houston State on Monday, but he has been cold from behind the 3-point line, shooting 5-of-16 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-3, 181-pound Voskuil, who averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 50 percent from the 3-point line last season, is close to averaging more rebounds per game (7.5) than points (8.5).
Okorie said when teams start focusing on slowing him down, Voskuil should get plenty more opportunities to find his touch.
"If I keep playing like this, teams are gonna key up on me, double team me, throw little traps at me," Okorie said. "That just makes it better for the other players on our team, so if they start sending traps, I can dish it out and get it to open people."
Okorie will get another chance to add to his scoring numbers against East Central when the first round of the Lubbock Regional in the Legends Classic gets under way at 7 p.m. today in the United Spirit Arena. The Red Raiders lead the all-time series 3-1, and this is the first game of the season for the Tigers other than several exhibitions. The Tigers went 2-2 in exhibition play, but showed the potential to put a lot of points on the board by scoring more than 100 points in their two wins.
The second round of the Legends Classic pits Tech against Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m. on Saturday. After that game, Tech will go on to play No. 6 Pittsburgh on Nov. 28 in Newark, N.J.
In the mean time, Tech players are wary of not looking past ECU, a Division II school that plays in the Lone Star Conference. The Tigers went 14-13 overall last season and return forward Justin Wilkerson, who averaged 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
"We respect every opponent," Tech forward Darko Cohadarevic said. "We have a scouting report on (East Central) the same as we gonna have against the University of Texas or Kansas. That's the great deal, you cannot underestimate anybody, like all the time every year you're gonna have some surprises in college basketball, and we don't want that thing to happen to us."
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