Sooner Men's BB: Big Game against Texas Tech on Saturday @ 1 PM!

[OUBeliever56A]

After the disappointment of the loss to Texas on Tuesday night, the Oklahoma Sooner Men's Basketball Team and Coach Porter Moser hopefully have re-grouped and are ready for Saturday's game against Texas Tech at 1 PM in Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners are 3-3 in conference play and in a tie for seventh place with 3 other teams. Texas Tech is alone in first place with their 4-1 record and had the mid-week game off. A win by the Sooners is needed badly to help 'right the ship' in conference play.

Texas Tech has [played well in conference play as they have won at Texas by 11, and at home against OSU, K-state and BYU. their lone loss is to Houston on the road 10 days ago by 23. I hope that whatever the Red Raiders ate before the Houston game is on the menu for today as they prepare to play Oklahoma.

Tech has two guards that drive their team along with 1 big man. It looks like they play most of the time with 4 guards/forward that are 6'6" or smaller. Only their center, Washington, has good size at 7'0". Washington scores 10.3 per game along with 8 rebounds. In conference play he has upped his scoring by three points. the two guards for Tech are Isaacs (6'2") and Toussaint (6'0"). Together they average 30 points a game. The Sooners will need to play better against them than they played against the Texas guards. The other two Texas Tech starters are 6'6" and 6'5". Williams at 6'6" scores 9.3 points and pulls down 7 boards a game. All four of those Red Raiders play 28 minutes minutes or more. Walton starts and scores 8 points a game along with 2 rebounds.

Tech only plays three other players most of the time. Two guards who are 6'4" and 6'3", McMillian scores 9 points and get 3 rebounds as he plays 26 minutes a game of the bench. Jennings, a 6'7" forward, plays only about 8 minutes a game. I think the Red Raiders usually play a few minutes without the 7-foot Washington on the court each game.

Stopping the two scoring guarda and handling the 7-footer should be the focus for the Sooners on defense. It think the Sooners can handle the boards inside against Tech. Tech can play slow or fast, so the pace of play could be anything. Tech handles the ball well with only 10 turnovers a game. Tech shoots the ball pretty well and make about 9 three's agame.

On offense, I hope I see the Sooners play a little closer to the free throw line out front. I think the pic-n-roll move has moved further away from the lane lately due to defensive pressure. When the pick happens that far above the free throw line, it takes away the jumper away across the pick. On the roll, Godwin and Hugley IV are too far away from the rim to be effective. It also gives defensive help more room to help. I think the faster the pace of play, the better it is for the Sooners. Open floor shooting and penetration is what OU does well. Too much dribbling of the ball lets the defense double and clog up the gaps. Moving the ball quickly creates gaps for players like Oweh, Moore and Soares and it creates good looks from 3-point range for the outside shooters for OU.

Saturday's game is a rebound game for Oklahoma. They need this one for many reasons.

The game will be show on ESPN+. As usual, the contest will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry working the radio call.

Good luck to the Sooners tomorrow against the Red Raiders an hour after high noon @ 1 PM in LNC.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Big 12 conference contest will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing and be broadcast by ESPN+ with Mark Neely (PxP) and King McClure (analyst) on the call.

No. 11/13 Oklahoma men's basketball hosts No. 20/21 Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Lloyd Noble Center. Tip is at 1:01 p.m. CT.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the game.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/1/26 ... n-saturday

Oklahoma is ranked 35th (games through 1/24) overall and seventh in the Big 12 in the NET. Ten Big 12 teams are in the top 50. Texas Tech is 34th overall and sixth in the conference.

Good luck to the Sooners on Saturday.

Boomer Sooner!

[EMan]

Lost that game at the line. Plain and simple. 9 missed FTs ain't going to cut it!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Sooners actually played one of their better games against a quality team in awhile despite the 85-84 loss to Texas Tech today. Iknow there will be those that say, a loss means you couldn't have played well but there can be another side of the coin.

The Sooners shot 47.5% from the field, including 11 of 26 from beyond the 3-point line for 42.3%. BUT, the free throws that OU did not make might have cost them the game. Oklahoma was 15 for 24 for 62.5%. Three or four more free throws could have made a big difference in this game.

The other thing that was not good was the defense on #0 McMillian for Tech. He shot lights out and scored 27 points on 10-13 shots with 6 of 8 from 3-point territory. McMillian, before today's game played 26 minutes but average 8.9 points a game. He was shooting 40%+ from three-point so far on the season. To say I was surprised that he was able to score 27 points without OU really making a defensive change on him is disappointing. McMillian hit a THREE off of an out-of-bound play inside 3 minutes left in the game that was huge.

It is a tough loss for the Sooners and this marks the 2nd time the Sooners have lost two in a row in conference. The first two losses were on the road at TCU and then at Kansas. These two at home to Texas and Texas Tech certainly hurts more because they are are home games.

At 3-4, the hole that the Sooners are now in is not shallow. They need to start filling in the hole with dirt next game against at Kansas State, which again will be a tough Big 12 game.

I will have a bit more tomorrow about today's games.

Boomer Sooner!

[cushcreekmont]

HOME loss! Yes, free throws could have (and would have) won the game.

This team will be VERY lucky to get to 500 in league play. They HAVE to win all their home games and get this week's losses back on the road - a tall order, and not likely to happen.