OU Men's Basketball: Travels to Lawrence to play Kansas Today!

[OUBeliever56A]

With their Overtime victory fresh in their minds, the Oklahoma Sooners Men's Basketball Team is in Lawrence, KS today to play Kansas in a late tip off at 8 PM. The game will also be televised on ESPN2. Kansas is 3-0 in the Big 12 and 14-1 overall and holds a #2 ranking in the country in both polls and a NET ranking of #4. Oklahoma is 1-2 in the Big 12 and 10-5 overall and is unranked with a NET ranking of #48.

Here is the staff writers article about the game tonight.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/1/9/ ... n-lawrence

In looking at the numbers tonight, the two teams seem very similar. Yes, Kansas is very good. And so far, Oklahoma is trying to become very good. But the numbers are the numbers.

First of all, Kansas is not a big team. On average, the Jayhawks only play 23 minutes a game with a player of 6'8" on the floor. OU plays 66 minutes a game with a player ofver 6'8" on the floor. It is true that OU does not play with their bigs down low usually, but tonight, that might be a thought.

Kansas plays primarily with three guards and 2 forwards on the floor. OU does that about half the time. To me it wil be interesting to see if OU can keep three forwards/centers on the floor and still play effective defense against Kansas. I think Jalen Hill will guard the best offensive player for Kansas as he usually does. That should be Jalen Wilson, the 6'8" forward who scores 20.2 PPG and 9 rebounds. The second best offensive player is also 6'8" Grady Dick, a guard. To keep 3 F/C on the floor. Hill has to guard one of those and Jacob Groves has to guard the other probably. that matchup might be tough. But if OU plays 3 guards and Hill is on the floor, Uzan probably has to guard the other. This matchup combo, may be the ey to the game at least on defense for OU. T Groves and Godwin will probably guard the other Kansas big that is on the floor. But, on offense, the Sooners can use that height advantage inside with 3 bigs and might cause Kansas to play 3 bigs also. It will be an interesting chess game to watch during the game.

The other two things to watch are these.

Kansas pulls down 38 rebounds a game to OU's 32. That is primarily due to the poor shooting by their opponents and by 15 offensive rebounds a game. OU only gets 8 offensive rebounds a game and 32 total rebounds. OU needs to shoot well, which they usually do, which will drop the Kansas rebounds and the Sooners must play well on the boards on the defensive end. This might be another reason to play 3 bigs in the game as much as possible.

The second thing to watch is the turnovers/steals. Kansas averages almost 10 steals a game while only committing only 12 turnovers. OU averages 13 turnovers and 6 steals a game. OU must keep these two stats in check tonight.

I understand that Lawecnce is a tough place to play. And the history of teams beating Kansas there is not good. But Texas Tech had the Jayhawks on the ropes until that last 'no call' at the end of the game. Kansas has won two of three Big 12 games by a total of 5 points against OSU and Texas Tech. I think OU is just as good as OSU and Tech. So, there is hope in my mind.

I am not saying that OU will defeat Kansas tonight, but if the Sooners can stay out of foul trouble with their bigs and stay close, within 3 points, and get the game to the 3:00 minute mark of the 4th quarter, the Sooners have a shot at an upset. That is the goal. Get to 180 seconds with the game in question. I also think that Sherfield might bust out of his two game 'slump' tonight. He just needs to catch and shoot instead of making a fake to shoot or fake a step and hesitate. Just shoot the ball if he is open.

After all, I do believe!

Boomer Sooner!

[OU Guy]

Just be prepared for refs to really give us the business especially at Kansas road game

[OU Guy]

Wow, way back in time!

[White River]

Thanks OU Guy,
That clip brought back a ton of memories. I'm not sure how I got so old so fast!

Kansas is turning up the defensive pressure tonight in the second half.

[OU Guy]

OU up by 10 trying to fend off refs with 5+ left. Can they do it? Would be biggest win in years

Just to documemt 10 point lead so we can watch if refs undo all our hard work

[White River]

Sooners were up by 10 with 5:18 left in the game. Kansas continues to initiate contact when they have the ball, but the Sooners are being called for the fouls. Attrition could be a problem before this is over. Kansas comes out of the timeout and cuts the lead to 5 in short order.

[RussC]

Up 3, 1:38 to go. Let’s gooooo!

[OU Guy]

FTs are 35 Kansas to 21 OU

Yup

And we taking too many 3 attempts and its hurt us refs notwithstanding. Kansas leads now

[White River]

Kansas goes on a 14-2 run to take the lead. Sooners get outplayed down the stretch. Poor shots and poor shooting have hurt the cause.

[OU Guy]

Its over we blew a 10 point lead. Can’t close out games. Refs are horrible but that sprinkled in with poor shot choices down stretch lost thos game. We are 2-16 on 3’s yet keep taking them. Horrible loss considering the lead we had. Too many wanna be a hero

[White River]

79-75 Kansas wins. Ended the game on an 18-4 run.

[White River]

Kansas left T Grove wide open to take his threes and it turned out to be a good strategy. Sherfield was mentally on tilt all night and took some really bad shots in the clutch.

[OU Guy]

What good is hard play for whole game only to fumble it away in last 5 minutes. Attempting 3’s just flat killed us when we were getting 2’s at a good clip. Hard to build a following when team continues to shoot itsef in foot game after game. Coach needs to figure it out and fast, 1-3 in conf. Moral victory means nothing. This was a bad loss all things considered

[AllSooner]

It's my fault! I tuned in with about 5 minutes to go and jinxed the team! They seem to win more when I don't watch.

[OUBeliever56A]

I watched the Oklahoma Men's Basketball game with Kansas last night and was anticipating what would probably be a loss, but was still hopeful that the if the Sooners could reduce the game to a 3-minute game, that maybe the Sooners would pull out a victory. I think most fans were concerned about the Kansas-aura of playing at home and treatment by the officials of the visiting team (lots of fouls called). then there are those 'fans' that seem to find everything they think is wrong with the team and can't wait to tell everyone did not feel as I did. Most OU fans thought my thought was too optimistic I think. Well, I do try to be optimistic in most things. Looking for bad things is usually rewarded, even if it is imagined. Looking for good is rewarding too. It takes a little more work, but it is a good way to look at things.

At the halfway point of the 1st half, the Sooners held a lead of 17-12 over Kansas when Uzan hit a 3-pointer at the 10:54 mark of the 1st half. Job well done for the first quarter of the game by the Sooners.

Kansas quickly struck back with 2 three's by Dick and Clemence to close to within one point at 18-19 by the 9:42 mark. Things can change quickly in 1:12 seconds. But OU still led. The score was close the rest of the half and when Sherfield hit a jumper from outside at the buzzer, OU trailed 34-36 at halftime. Again, really good half of basketball by the Sooners. Some stats:

Points in the Paint - 18 OU - 18 Kansas
- 2nd Chance Points - 6 OU - 4 Kansas
- Fast Break Points - 4 OU - 2 Kansas
- Bench Points - 10 OU - 10 Kansas
- Points off Turnovers - 3 OU - 11 Kansas (ugh!)
- Turnovers - 7 OU - Kansas 3 (ugh!)
- Rebounds - 21 OU - 16 K:ansas
- Shooting % Field - 46% OU - 39% Kansas
- 3-PT % - 11% OU - 38% - Kansas
- Free Throws - 5 of 6 OU - 7 of 8 Kansas
- Fouls - 5 OU - 6 Kansas (I guess the officials did not think it was time to affect the game yet.)

I would suggest to any one, that the Sooners played well in the first half except for the turnovers. And even that was not terrible. But Kansas did take advantage of the 7 turnovers with 11 points. At the half, I was encouraged as the Sooners stayed out of foul trouble, Sherfield was playing better and Godwin made a big contibution off the bench. I think OU felt they could play with Kansas after the first half. Only Adams and Clemence (a surprise) had played well for Kansas. I think the focus on Dick and to stop his 3-point shooting was working. So did the commentators on ESPN2.

Kansas broke out to a 5 point lead quickly on a 3-point play (2 and 1). I thought that after Sherfield made a bucket at 43-40, that OU was going to stay close. But after the bucket Sherfield got a very quick "T" apparently for a comment to an official about a foul not being called. I will say that Sherfield receives a lot of contact as he dribbles every game without many calls against the defense IMO. 4 free throws gave Kansas a 47-40 lead at the 16:37 mark and I will say I was a bit worried that the game might slip away at that point.

But, by the 14:42 mark the game was tied at 48-48 when Jalen Hill made a bucket inside for Oklahoma.

The Sooners then made a big run at the Jayhawks over the next nine and half minutes or so. OU scored 23 points over that stretch with Kansas only scoring 13. I think OU scored on 12 out of 12 possessions over this stretch. Seven Sooners scored with Sherfield scoring 9, Uzan 4, T Groves 4, Hill, Nolan and Godwin 2. It was a big time stretch of play for the Sooners.

All 13 of the Kansas points were at the free throw line however. Wilson for Kansas made 8 FT, with Dick and Clemence had 2 and Pettiford had 1. After that, the Sooners had some foul concerns, especially with T Groves and Goodwin. But the Sooners led 71-61 at the 5:19 mark of the 2nd half. To this point the Sooners had outplayed the Jayhawks and Coach Moser had pushed the right buttons and selected the right strategies to help get the Sooners to this point. Can anyone really disagree with those thoughts. Up by 10 in Lawrence against the #2 team in the country? Can you give the Sooners some praise? I was!

I found myself thinking that maybe the Sooners would finish this off and get a huge win on the road. Coach Self took a timeout after the T Groves bucket in the paint to make the score 71-61. Kansas responded quickly to the timeout. Adams scored 2 inside, OU had a turnover and Wilson hit a 3-pointer after 2 offensive rebounds to make the score 71-66 with 4:17 mark. Coach Moser called a timeout to get things settled. Sherfield missed inside followed by a Harris bucket to make it 71-68 at the 3:33 mark. The two teams traded misses before Nolan scored for OU to make the score 73-68 with 2:30 left to play.

After a Kansas miss, OU missed on a wide open 3-point attempt as Kansas left Nolan all alone on the left wing. Kansas took the rebound and scored quicky to make the score 73-70. Coach Moser quickly called another time out with 1:46 left in the game. I remember thinking that OU needs two more buckets, just two more.

After the timeout, the Sooners missed on their next three possessions. Kansas scored on all three of their possessions. Kansas led 77-73 with 18 seconds left to play. Tanner Groves made two free throws to make the game a 2-point game before Harris made 2 free throws as the Sooners were forced to foul. The final score was 79-75.

It was a tough pill to swallow going down the stretch for the Sooners. They were outscored 18-4 in the last five minutes. I will mention that only 4 of the Kansas points were on free shots. Kansas scored 14 points from the field. But one must acknowledge, Kansas is the #2 team in the country and they were playing at home where they almost never lose and haven't lost to OU since Bob Barry, SR was the sports reporter for Channel 4 which broke a long stretch of losses at that time. It you truly thought that OU would be defeated by 4 points to Kansas, please stand up. I am waiting, please stand up. A fan can still be dissapointed but yet realistic as the same time. And for one fan, I can be happy and encouraged by the Sooners play against Kansas for 35 minutes. Very encouraged.

Okay - the stats for the 2nd half:
- OU outscored Kansas in the paint in the second half 20-14. OU scored 38 of their 75 points in the paint. I think that means that they did take the ball to the bucket alot against Kansas.
- OU had 9 fast break points to 4 for Kansas. Both teams had 5 2nd chance points.
- OU had 8 bench points to 3 for Kansas.
- Kansas did lead in points off of turnovers 6 to 4. OU only had 4 turnovers in the 2nd half, Kansas had 3.
- OU shot 48% from the field and 12.5% from 3-point range. Kansas shot 35% from the field and 33% from long distance.
- Kansas scored 43 in the 2nd half and OU scored 41. Kansas made 24 of 31 free throws while OU made 14 of 17 free throws. OU committed 17 fouls, Kansas had 11.
- OU shot 17 three's in the game. They average 18.9 a game with last night included. It is on par with the season. It is too bad they did not make a couple by Nolan and T Groves down the stretch. They were big shots that did not fall.

I think I can count in my head at least 4 fouls that were picked up by OU inside that I was not even sure there was contact and OU had there hands above their shoulders. That has to be frustrating. I think if Tanner Groves could get a cold from a person 1000 feet away from him, he would if it was comapred to the way he gets called for fouls sometimes. You can tell how much he is frustrated by it as he rubs his head and hair after a call.

Coach Moser did call 2 timeouts down the stretch in an attempt to right the ship. The team never gave up. The Sooners are now 1-3 in conference after losing to Texas by 1, Iowa State by 3,both at home and by 4 to Kansas on the road. They defeated Texas Tech, injured a bit, by 5 on the road. Honestly, that is just about what I expected before conference play started. But with a couple shots here and there, the record could be a bit better. The Sooners were 7-11 in the Big 12 last year. This year, the Big 12 is better, perhaps much better. The ESPN2 commentators last night said that the average NET ranking for the Big 12 was 30 points higher than the next best conference. They were pretty amazed at that stat. Ou has played 3 of the top 4 teams in the Big 12.

The next few games should be somewhat of a "lull" in the schedule. OU hosts WV, travels to OSU, hosts Baylor and then travels to TCU. Three of those games are on ESPN2/U. Maybe the Sooners can go 2-2 or even 3-1 over that stretch. But there is no easy win in the Big 12. Every win is earned. Earned with difficulty.

The game against West Virginia on Saturday is at 11 AM and is part of a DH at Lloyd Noble Center with the Women's game against Kansas at 2 PM.

I know I might seem a bit optimistic to some, but there is some reasons to be that way IMO.

Boomer Sooner!