After falling short of a comeback Saturday against No. 3 Kansas, Texas Tech (13-8, 4-4) looks to bounce back Tuesday night at 8 p.m. against Oklahoma Sooners (14-7, 4-4). Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard met with the media Monday afternoon.

Redshirt freshman Kevin McCullar remains in the concussion protocol. McCullar last played in the Kentucky overtime thriller and played critical minutes in the one-possession loss.

In addition, grad transfer Chris Clarke played only six minutes in the loss to Kansas over the weekend after appearing to hurt his ankle against Kentucky. Beard said Clarke had a “severe ankle swollen up,” and is hopeful that Clarke will be available tomorrow night against the Sooners.

“He tried to play in the Kansas game,” Beard said. “Just kind of made that coach’s decision that didn’t want to put him out there if he weren’t at his best. We’re hopeful that he’ll go and play in tomorrow’s game.”

The Sooners are led in the scoring column by junior forward Brady Manek (15.9 points/game), redshirt junior guard Austin Reaves (14.6 points/game) and senior forward Kristian Doolittle (14.4 points/game). Doolittle also leads the Sooners with 8.8 rebounds per game.

Beard talked about the senior and how the Big 12 has had a lot of four-year player, and Doolittle is another good one.

“(Doolittle) is a guy I have a lot of respect for,” Beard said. “He’s a ‘positionless’ player. He does a lot of things for his team as (Chris Clarke) does for ours. He can score, he can pass, he can defend, he can play as a playmaker. You know, it seems like he’s been in the league forever. He’s a really good player. It’s also a great sign of respect for the coaching staff, guys getting better when they play for coach (Lon Kruger). He’s the latest example.”

Manek and Reaves shoot above 35 percent from the field goal as well as above 80 percent from the free throw line and can become alternative or even additional threats coming into Lubbock.

“Oklahoma is a unique team,” Beard said, “especially with their starting lineup: five guys that shoot threes, five guys who can dribble, pass and shoot. They’re all great passers; so, it’s a real challenge. In my eyes, they’re identity is their skilled offense. They score on the break, they score at halfcourt, and they’re really good at isos, one-on-one basketball, too.

The three-point shot is a big part of (Oklahoma’s) identity. Again, all five guys in the starting lineup are three-point shooters.”

Defensively, Beard said their offense translates into good defense.

“Seems to be switching a bit more than coach Kruger’s teams normally do,” Beard. “They play without a big at times. Then, they come in off the bench with the freshman bigs, who are really good.

Freshman guard Jahmi’us Ramsey, once again, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Ramsey got back to usual scoring nights putting up 21 points against West Virginia and 26 against Kansas. Beard said he likes Ramsey’s offense and continues to help him on the other side of the ball as well.

“(Jahmi’us Ramsey) has had a great week of being aggressive,” Beard said. “I think when he’s playing his game, he’s one of the better players in college basketball. Specifically, I think he’s starting to get this approach where each possession had a life of itself. That was nice to see. Didn’t get off to very good start at the Kansas game, but keeps plucking away. Sometimes with young players the bad start can become a bad game, or a bad half can become a bad game. Jahmi’us had a great week of bouncing back from adversity, and he really had two great offensive games.”

Beard talked about, of course, getting of to a better start, saying they talked about it for the Kansas game but weren't able to execute it.

In addition, Texas Tech has had a couple of close loses but Beard said the objective and main takeaway is stay the course.

“I think we’ve proven we can play with anybody in the country,” Beard said. “We’ve also proven that we’ve got to find a consistency here in the last month of the season if we’re going to be a part of the fight.”

Expectation-wise, they remain the same. He said the goal is to win a conference championship, follow that up with advancing in the NCAA tournament and eventually getting four, then to two wins away from the national championship.

“We’re trying to get ourselves back in the conference championship fight,” Beard said. “This is a pivotal game to get that fifth win, then a lot of basketball to be played. Baylor is of by themselves, outstanding start, but you go one game at a time. You give yourself a chance; so, we’d like to be in the fight starting game 10, and that’s why this game in a lot of ways is really important for both teams.”