Sooners fall short in bid to upset Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, Texas — The best player on the floor took over in the final five minutes.
Oklahoma senior guard Christian James holds that title on most nights, but Tuesday night in Lubbock it was reserved for Texas Tech sophomore guard Jarrett Culver.
After OU forward Brady Manek drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game 51-51 with 4:46 left, Culver scored nine points to push the No. 8 Red Raiders (14-1, 3-0 Big 12) to a 66-59 win over the No. 23 Sooners (12-3, 1-2 Big 12) at United Supermar-
kets Arena.
“We didn’t do a good enough job of getting a crowd around him at that time,” OU coach Lon Kruger said. “It was pretty obvious that he was gonna make a play. We needed to make someone else make a play at that moment.”
Culver, a projected lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, scored a game-high 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting with 13 rebounds.
“I think he can be the best player in college basketball and so does he,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said of Culver. “It’s not arrogance. It’s not being cocky. He believes in himself and so do I.”
Oklahoma held a 35-31 halftime lead, but 10 second-half turnovers doomed a potential upset bid. It was OU’s second seven-point road loss against a top-10 team this week. Oklahoma fell 70-63 at Kansas last Wednesday.
What turned into a standing-room only crowd in Lubbock was reminiscent of the atmosphere the Sooners endured in Lawrence.
“I feel like we got a little stagnant,” OU forward Kristian Doolittle said of the second half. “The arena was really loud, so it took us a little longer to get into our sets.”
Texas Tech and its seemingly impenetrable pack line defense held OU to 32 percent shooting and 24 second-half points.
The Red Raiders rank first nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.
James led the Sooners with 14 points, but he was just 4 of 12 from the field. James was dejected as he exited OU’s locker room following the loss.
“They’re a top-10 team, and we had them shook,” James said. “We should’ve won that game.”
Oklahoma returns to the court for a 1 p.m. matchup with TCU on Saturday in Norman.