Fifty-six seconds into Saturday’s game, Texas Tech coach Pat Knight called his first timeout.

Already Oklahoma had made a jumper, rebounded a missed Tech layup, grabbed the rebound and scored again to take a 4-0 lead while Tech watched in an apparent stupor.

Knight didn’t want to see it continue.

“I did it against Iowa State, too,” Knight said. “My dad told me after the game he thought we weren’t going to have any timeouts left at the end of the game, but these kids, you’ve got to stay on them and the way to do it is to call timeout.”

Texas Tech and Nick Okorie travel to Austin tonight to face No. 6 ranked Texas. (Photo by Geoffrey McAllister/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

The Red Raiders (14-5, 2-3 Big 12) didn’t find their offensive spark until the second half Saturday, almost giving up a home loss to Oklahoma. Today the team will need to pick up the pace early if it wants a chance at defeating No. 6 Texas in Austin. Tipoff is 8 p.m.

Knight’s early timeouts in both of last week’s wins weren’t necessarily enough to give his team a comfortable cushion; it led Iowa State by 10 but trailed OU by eight at halftime. Tech is looking for more athletic starts in its conference games.

“It’s our mind-set,” guard Nick Okorie said. “You have to be willing before you can actually go out there and do something. Then if you’re willing to put it all on the line, it shows in your athleticism.”

Athleticism will need to serve the Raiders tonight. Texas (17-2, 3-1 Big 12) already posed a problem thanks to post players Damion James and Dexter Pittman; James averages 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game with Pittman adding 12.1 points and 6.3 boards.

Tech, meanwhile, will be without both of its starting forwards as Darko Cohadarevic serves a one-game suspension and D’walyn Roberts recovers from a bone bruise.

The Longhorns are returning home after road losses at Kansas State and UConn.

Tech’s Brad Reese, who will start today in place of Roberts, said the Raiders won’t be able to match the Longhorns’ size, so they’re going to have to try a different defensive approach.

“They’re really strong and physical, but we’re athletic,” Reese said. “We’ve got to pick our poison, trap them if we have a chance, use our speed against them. They play two bigs at all times and we usually play four guards, so we’re going to have to run a little more.”

After spending the first half of the season emphasizing defense, Knight admits the past few days he’s turned the focus in practice to offense. The players are taking more shots, working on screens and moving the ball in hopes it will stop letting teams build 6, 8, and 10-point first-half leads.

Knight praised his players’ defensive effort Saturday, saying it was the only thing that kept them close enough to come back after the Sooners built an 11-point lead early in the first half. But he’d rather put their energy to better use.

“At least our defense kept us in it, but it wears you out trying to come back from six down, eight down,” Knight said.

The result of all this offensive emphasis could appear almost negligible. Instead of walking the ball up the court, Tech’s guards might drive a little harder to the basket. Instead of watching opponents chase down rebounds, the Raiders will follow shots on offense and defense.

Instead of giving up when Texas, or Texas A&M, or the opponent in any of its other nine remaining regualr season games gets a double-digit lead, Tech’s plan will be simple: get a stop.

Reese said it’s all mental, and getting back-to-back conference wins after starting league play 0-3 shows that.

“Sometimes when they go on a 10-0 run, you just have to dig down
and get a basket,” Reese said. “There’s nothing you can really practice with that. it’s got to be inside you.”

Red Raiders vs. Longhorns
-When: 8 p.m. today
-Where: Austin
-Records: Tech 14-5, 2-3 Big 12;
Texas 17-2, 3-1 Big 12
-Last game: Tech 75, Oklahoma 65; UConn 88, Texas 74
-Last meeting: Texas won 87-81 in
Lubbock on Feb. 25, 2009.
-TV: ESPNU
-Radio: KTTU 104.3 FM
-Online: twitter.com/AJSports

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