Sooners beat OSU 66-62

[SwampSooner]

"Watched" the game by following the stats. It looked like OU hit their free-throws down the stretch.

I wonder if Billy Tubbs body was spinning in his grave. 16 minutes into the game OU had scored a whopping 20 pts.

[EMan]

That was some UGLY basketball! Almost impossible to watch, even from the stands. Not only did the Sooners not help themselves in any way possible, but as much as i hate to say it, the Big 12 screwing of OU by officials before leaving the conference has extended to basketball. OU was called for three technical fouls and a flagrant foul. I'm not saying they may not have been deserved because I have no idea what was said, but the officials let it get out of hand and the frustration by the Sooners was obvious. And that's part of the equation of OU not helping themselves. They HAVE to be more disciplined than that. After the first T, and certainly after the second one, you HAVE to get your emotions under control and play basketball. OU even had a player (Godwin) foul out of the game WHILE ON THE BENCH!! Yes, he picked up a T (his fifth foul) while on the bench! Against any other team than the worst team in the league (which OSU certainly is), the Sooners would've lost that game. But they somehow finally righted the ship at the end and managed to gut out a win.

Unfortunately, the season-ending trend is continuing. Oweh has completely disappeared, and McCollum isn't doing any better, although he is at least still golden at the FT line. Thank goodness because the rest of the team absolutely stinks at the line! Missing FT after FT loses you games, and again, if OSU wasn't such a horrible team, the Sooners would've lost that game at the line, just like the TT game earlier this season. Uzan is Jekyll and Hyde. Will play well one game, then seemingly go into "passive mode" the next. Hugley and Godwin can't make a 2' shot anymore. The only pluses I see right now are Moore, Soares and Darthard. Those three are playing better as the season winds down. I don't think there's any argument that Moore is the best player on the team right now, and Soares is playing tough as well. And Darthard has come on the last 3 or 4 games. If not for those three, OU would be in another complete tailspin down the stretch.

Sadly, the upcoming gauntlet of games looks more than daunting at this point in time. @Baylor, KU at home, @OSU, @Iowa St, and home against Houston. The way OU has been playing, if they go 2-3 in that stretch I'll be surprised. Sure hope they prove me wrong, but unless Oweh and McCollum return to form, this could get ugly. Hate to be such a Negative Nellie after a win, but that should've been a game that OU cruised through. A sold-out arena against a crappy version of your cross-state rival... and that's what we get?!? Pew! Again, the officials didn't help, but OU has to do better than that. Here's hoping the light comes on and they find themselves, but it's certainly going to have to be something different than what we saw last night.

[Brisket]

Here's what I don't understand about this team. Before the season, Moser said this team would be at its best playing up-tempo & running more. This certainly appears to be in-line with the skillsets of the players on the roster - McCollum, Moore, & the other guards/wings. Early in the season, they were pushing the pace. They were routinely putting up scores in the upper-70's & higher. In Big12 play, though, they're only averaging 71 points/game, & have only scored more than 75 points 4 times.

I get that Big12 teams & defenses are more talented, but this team is in such an offensive funk that they've got to force the issue. Moser's 4-Out Motion system has a hard time working when there's no actual motion. It seems like they've regressed to typical Kelvin Sampson offensive strategy: dribble & pass the ball around the 3-point line until there's 7-8 seconds left & then either frantically drive or jack up a 3-point prayer.

[Raul]

Looking at the final 7 games of the reg season: Wow and Wow!

Four remaining road games, and our three remaining home games are against KU, Houston, and Cincinnati - holy smokes.

Cinch ‘em up tight, boys!!

Don’t shoot low - they’re not riding Shetlands!