Oklahoma basketball is firing on all cylinders – and Buddy Hield is the supercharger that has the Sooners headed to Houston and the Final Four.
its best at the best time of year, in hope of being the last team standing w, music video “One Shining Moment” pops up on the TV screen, marking the ceremonial end to the college basketball season.
Hield all but has the Player of the Year award in his hip pocket, and with 117 points and two 30-plus point games in the Sooners’ four NCAA Tournament victories, leaving Oklahoma as one of the four teams that will be headed to Houston next weekend to play for it all, he is making a strong bid for Most Outstanding Player on college basketball’s biggest stage: the Final Four.
As incredibly impressive as Hield has been through four NCAA Tournament games, though, he is not the only reason Oklahoma is moving on in the Big Dance.
Like sophomore big man Khadeem Lattin said in the OU press conference following its 80-68 over top-seed Oregon in the West Regional final, I don’t know whether he got us to the Final Four or we got him there, but the bottom line is that Oklahoma’s journey to the tourney has taken it around the final turn and headed down the homestretch to Houston.
“Certainly Buddy is at the core of it,” said Sooner head coach Lon Kruger about why Oklahoma is playing so well in the NCAA Tournament, “but Buddy’s the first one to tell you that he was the happiest guy in the gym on Thursday whe he saw all those other guys (Jordan Woodard, Isaiah Cousins, Ryan Spangler, Lattin and Christian James and Dante Buford off the bench) playing well and being productive.”
Yes, “Buddyball” was on fire on Saturday, nailing 13 of 20 shots, eight of those from well behind the three-point arc and well defended to boot, for a total of 37 points, equaling the most ever by a Sooner player in the NCAA Tournament.
“Certainly, Buddy is at the core of everything…(but) lots of guys are producing.” –Lon Kruger, Oklahoma head coach
That is certainly the headline behind OU’s successful run in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but here are a few more compelling reasons this veteran team is still playing:
- The Sooners have gotten off to strong starts, building double-digit leads early in their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight victories, Building large halftime holes for their opponents (19-point advantage over No. 3 Texas A&M and an 18-point lead over No. 1 Oregon at the intermission), served as plenty of cushion and made it extremely difficult for the Sooners’ two opponents to get back into the game.
- Rebounding. Both Texas A&M and Oregon are excellent rebounding teams, but the Sooners were strong on the boards at both ends in both games this weekend, and it wasn’t just the play of OU big men Spangler and Lattin. In the win over Texas A&M, Buddy Hield pulled down 10 rebounds in recording the first double-double (scoring and rebounding in double digits) in his Oklahoma career, and in Saturday’s win over Oregon, 6-4 Christian James had 10 boards, five on the offensive end, in just 26 minutes of action. The Sooners outrebounded the bigger Ducks 38-32.
- As a team, Oklahoma shot 46 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range for the game. They also made 14 of 17 free throws. More importantly, the Sooners limited Oregon’s scoring ability, holding the Duck shooters to below 40 percent for the game and a horrific 19 percent on three-balls (4 out of 21). When you make shots and prevent your opponent from doing the same, it generally translates into a win.
- Oregon never led against the Sooners. Oklahoma led for 38:57 in the game. The game was tied for 1:03.
- Balanced offense. In addition to Hield’s 37-point performance, two other OU players scored in double digits in the win over Oregon (Woodard 13 and Cousins 11), and all five starters scored at least four points.
- Oklahoma scored 18 points off of 12 Oregon Turnovers as well as 16 second-chance points.