Oklahoma State Uses Balanced Offense to Pull Upset Win vs. No. 6 Texas Tech

The Big 12 continues to showcase its depth, as Oklahoma State pulled off the 79-71 upset over No. 6 Texas Tech Wednesday night.

The Red Raiders had won seven games in a row to surprisingly move into first place in the conference, but they have since suffered two straight losses both on the road.

Kendall Smith led the way with 21 points and six assists for Oklahoma State, his fourth 20-point effort in the last six games.

Texas Tech held a 35-34 lead at halftime, but some hot shooting in the second half helped the Cowboys pull away.

Jake Trotter of ESPN described the home team's play:

Oklahoma State finished shooting 11-of-22 from three-point range and 53.3 percent overall from the field, as the Red Raiders simply couldn't stop it. Lindy Waters III knocked down all four of his shots from the perimeter, while Jeffrey Carroll found a way to finish much closer to the basket:

Of course, perhaps the biggest factor came on the defensive end, as Texas Tech leading scorer Keenan Evans was held to just two points on 1-of-7 shooting.

The senior had looked like one of the best players in the country at times this year but now has just six points in his last two games combined, leading to two losses for his team.

Oklahoma State went up as many as 16 points in the second half before holding on for the convincing win.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports discussed the impact of this game:

Texas Tech can still win a conference title with a win against Kansas and a strong finish to the season, but there is less confidence then there was a week ago at this time.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State is still likely on the outside looking in for the NCAA tournament, but as tough as the Big 12 has been, the squad is still in the running after this impressive victory.