 "Photo: File photo")
Mike Davis and the Texas Tech basketball team know they have to play Oklahoma State better in Lubbock than they did a month ago in Stillwater, Okla.
That means containing OSU’s star guard James Anderson, who reeled off 25 points against the Red Raiders — in the first half.
“We’ll still have our eye on him,” Davis said. “He’s a good player. He got on a hot streak last time, so hopefully this time we’re able to contain him and come out with a victory.”
Tech started strong in its Big 12 Conference opener against Oklahoma State on Jan. 9 in Stillwater.
At the time, just one Big 12 team had lost on its home floor, and it looked like Tech might make OSU the second team, leading 21-15 more than halfway through the first half.
But as the Red Raiders’ scoring pace slowed, Anderson caught fire in an 81-52 drubbing of Tech.
Tech will have a chance at revenge when the two teams square off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the United Spirit Arena.
OSU coach Travis Ford said he’s lucky to have a player such as Anderson on the floor every week.
“It’s been a work in progress,” he said Monday during the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “We have so many new players with six freshmen and one transfer. So there’s no question we need him. There’s no question James Anderson is one of the best players in the country and one of the best players on our team.”
Tech guard John Roberson pointed out it’s not only the Red Raiders who have struggled with Anderson, a 6-foot-6 junior, in the first half.
Anderson scored 24 points in the first half against No. 9 Texas in a 72-60 loss Monday in Stillwater.
He leads the Cowboys in scoring with 501 points, averaging 22.8 points per game. No one else on the Cowboy roster ranks anywhere near him. OSU’s Obi Muonelo ranks second with 279 points on the year. Tech’s top scorer, forward Mike Singletary, has 324 points this season.
With no midweek game this week, Tech (14-7, 2-5 in Big 12 play) took some time to consider what can be improved in the final nine regular season games.
The Red Raiders recognized that at times their defense has been less than stellar this season, and that they have been getting outrebounded.
So Tech has used the time to shore up its deficiencies and players expect to come out stronger against the Cowboys (16-6, 4-4).
Saturday’s game presents the Red Raiders with their first rematch opportunity of the season as Big 12 teams from the same division play home-and-home series every year.
Roberson said the Red Raiders second meeting with OSU this season will be a more competitive game with Tech playing in front of a friendly crowd and the fact there should not be many surprises since the two teams already have played each other.
“I think we know what they’re going to try to do to us,” Roberson said. “They kind of caught us off guard down there in Stillwater. I think we’re going to be ready for their defensive pressure, and we’ll have a lot of counters to what they have on defense.”
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