Cunningham’s Cowboys May Be Too Much for Red Raiders

The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Texas Tech Red Raiders both have plenty at stake as they duel Monday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. The host Cowboys (14-6 SU, 10-9-1 ATS) will be looking to complete a season sweep of Texas Tech with a win that might move them back into the Top 25; the Red Raiders (14-7 SU, 7-14 ATS) need a win to stay in the national rankings.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Red Raiders opened this one as 2-point favorites, but that line has since swelled to either -3 or -3.5 depending on your sportsbook. The total has also risen, from 136.5 up to 138.5 in most spots.

Texas Tech News & Notes

The Red Raiders have hit the skids at the worst possible time, coming off losses to West Virginia and Kansas while having covered just once in their past seven games. But they went down this road not long ago and responded with vigor, bouncing back from their previous two-game losing skid with consecutive victories over LSU, Oklahoma and Kansas State.

The key for the Raiders on Monday will be to find a way to force the high-pace Cowboys to make a ton of mistakes. Oklahoma State boasts the fastest attack in the conference but averages a Big 12-worst 15.5 turnovers per game while owning the second-lowest assist-to-turnover ratio (0.87). Oklahoma State had just 13 turnovers in an 82-77 OT win over Texas Tech on January 2.

Oklahoma State News & Notes

There’s little separating these teams on the season; in fact, they’re so evenly matched that the Odds Shark supercomputer has both teams scoring exactly 66.6 points. And there are two factors working against the Cowboys in the rematch: they shot well above their season averages from the three-point arc (42.1 percent) and foul line (75 percent) in last month’s meeting and still needed OT to prevail.

Still, it’s always nice to have one of the top players in the country on your roster – and that’s just what the Cowboys have in guard Cade Cunningham. The current -300 favorite to be selected first overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, Cunningham was held to 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting in the first matchup but has scored 18 or more points in seven of nine games since.

Betting Pick: Oklahoma State +3 (-110)

This is the beginning of a pivotal stretch of games for Cunningham, who would love to showcase his diverse skill set for the basketball world. Look for him to outduel Mac McClung and lead the Cowboys to an outright victory.