Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech basketball: Three takeaways from Sooners' loss to Red Raiders

NORMAN — The Sooners tried to go out with one last defensive stand.

OU only had pride left to play for in the closing seconds of a home game against Texas Tech on Tuesday. The Sooners trailed by nearly double digits, but that didn't stop them from double-teaming Red Raiders guard De'Vion Harmon at halfcourt.

They forgot to protect the paint, though.

Harmon sailed a pass to Jaylon Tyson, who was open under the rim, and he delivered a two-handed dunk as the Texas Tech bench rose to its feet.

That was the story of the game.

OU suffered a 74-63 loss, and it struggled to stop Texas Tech's offense all evening. The Sooners (13-15, 3-12 Big 12) allowed the Red Raiders to shoot 61.7% from the floor and 58.3% from deep.

"That was on us to make (Texas Tech) miss, and we just didn't do that," senior forward Jalen Hill said. "We've just got to find a way to make some plays."

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

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OU dominates the turnover battle in the first half

OU trailed 5-3 with 15:46 left in the first half when Joe Bamisile poked the ball away from Texas Tech’s Lamar Washington.

Bamisile then raced down the floor and skipped a pass to Hill, who only had one defender standing between him and the rim.

That man was Kevin Obanor. The Texas Tech forward tried to prevent Hill from making a layup and fouled him in the process, but Hill still sank the shot as the whistle sounded.

The Sooners trailed 33-31 at halftime, but they stayed within striking distance thanks to their defense and transition offense.

OU forced Texas Tech to turn the ball over 13 times in the first half and converted those miscues into 10 points on the other end.

"I thought we were doing some good things," OU head coach Porter Moser said. "Being scrappy. Causing turnovers. Active hands. Deflections. I thought we were doing all those things in the first half."

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Texas Tech owns the glass

Texas Tech held a 58-54 lead with 5:46 left in the game when a hook shot by Fardaws Aimaq clanked off the rim.

But there wasn’t an OU player in sight for the defensive rebound.

Only Texas Tech’s Tyson and Obanor were under the rim, and Obanor let Tyson get the honor of sinking the easy putback shot.

The Red Raiders dominated the glass all evening. They recorded 38 rebounds compared to the Sooners' 22 rebounds.

"It impacted the game a lot," Moser said of Texas Tech's rebounding. "One of the reasons we didn’t get as many rebounds is we either had a turnover or they were making a shot. There weren’t many missed shots."

Aimaq did most of the damage for Texas Tech.

The 6-foot-11 forward racked up a game-high 10 rebounds. Tyson and Obanor snagged eight boards and seven boards, respectively.

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Tuesday's game was a winnable one for OU

Despite shooting the ball well, the Red Raiders didn’t play their best basketball on Tuesday.

Texas Tech committed 16 turnovers, which OU converted into 12 points on the other end.

Texas Tech also averaged 13 offensive rebounds in its previous two games, but OU held it to six offensive boards.

Lastly, Texas Tech struggled against OU’s transition defense. The Red Raiders only recorded six fastbreak points.

And yet Texas Tech still won the game, mostly due to OU’s struggles on offense. The Sooners shot 35.6% from the floor and 27.3% from deep.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball struggles to get stops in home loss to Texas Tech