Men's college basketball game of the week: No. 20 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 Oklahoma

On Jan. 27, the No. 20 Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners.

A matchup of a well-rounded offense against a great defense will be on show in the weekend’s matchup.

The teams enter the game with very similar records. Texas Tech is 15-3 with losses spread out throughout the season. Oklahoma is 15-4 with losses more recently in the season.

The Red Raiders are coming off a ranked win against then No. 20 BYU. Warren Washington had 19 points in the victory while falling just one rebound short of a double-double.

The Sooners are looking to bounce back after an upset loss to unranked Texas. The red and white lost 75-60 in a game where the team just couldn’t get going.

Oklahoma shot 39.3 percent from the field in the loss and was led by Jalon Moore with 15 points.

The Red Raiders have one of the top scorers in the Big 12 in Pop Isaacs. Isaacs is averaging 16.9 points per game including his 32 points in the win over BYU.

The black and red are looking to continue the momentum built in the win over BYU with another ranked Big 12 win.

On the other side, Oklahoma is looking for its first major ranked win of the season. Despite being ranked 11th in the country, the Sooners are 1-2 in ranked matchups this season.

They have losses to then-No. 11 Oklahoma and then-No. 3 Kansas, with a victory over then-No. 23 USC, a team with an 8-11 record now.

The team is led by a guard duo of Javian McCollum and Otega Oweh, both of whom are averaging more than 10 points per game.

They’ll face off against Isaacs and Joe Toussaint of the Red Raiders in a big-time guard matchup.

Texas Tech has the advantage in the frontcourt. Washington leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game to go along with 10.3 points per game.

This matchup will be a focal point in the Big 12 standings. Texas Tech currently sits alone at the top with a 4-1 conference record. Despite being ranked lower than the Sooners, Texas Tech has been more successful in the early parts of the Big 12 season.

Oklahoma is still trying to find its footing in the Big 12 season. The Sooners are 3-3 in conference play and sit 10th in the conference. A win against Texas Tech will put the Sooners right back in the middle of the pack, with still over a month of conference play left in the season.

Despite sitting in 10th, Oklahoma is expected to reach the NCAA tournament barring a collapse. The final month and a half of the season will be huge for the Sooners in a conference that is looking like the deepest in the country.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email asd5765@psu.edu