What the Oklahoma basketball team was able to do well in an upset win at West Virginia earlier in the week was their undoing in a double overtime loss to Iowa State on Saturday.
The Sooners committed a season-high 25 turnovers against the visiting Cyclones, who turned those two dozen miscues on the OU offensive end into 31 Iowa State points and a 92-87 win at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
Oklahoma held a 19-point first-half lead at 28-9, but once again was unable to hold on as the Cyclone outscored OU 21-1 over the final eight minutes of the first half, allowing Iowa State to take a one-point lead, 30-29, into halftime.
Failing to hold on to that nearly 20-point advantage early in the game eventually proved to be the difference maker in the game.
The two teams went back and forth with the lead in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Oklahoma took a one-point lead at 60-59 with 7:31 remaining in regulation and held on to the lead until Iowa State tied it at 69 all with just under 90 seconds left in the game. That is the way things ended in regulation.
Both teams scored nine points in the first extra session, with Iowa State coming back from a six-point deficit to tie the game at 78 and send it into a second overtime session. The Sooners never led in the second overtime, as the Cyclones opened up a six-point advantage at 86-80 and never looked back.
It was a devastating loss for the young Sooners, who were hoping for a third consecutive Big 12 victory but were unable to get the job done at the end.
“It’s a game of streaks,” said Sooner coach Lon Kruger in his postgame comments to reporters. “We’ve got to eliminate the bad streaks.”
Jordan Woodard again went wild in the second half for the Sooners, scoring all 21 of his team-high 21 points after halftime. Freshmen Kameron McGusty and Kristian Doolittle added 19 and 15 points, respectively, for Oklahoma. Doolittle also pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds, helping the Sooners to a 50-41 edge on the boards.
But in the end, Oklahoma was unable to overcome the 70 points recorded by the Iowa State senior trio of Deonte Burton, Naz Long and Monte Morris. Burton scored a career-high 31 to lead the Cyclones.
Key Observations From the Game
- Iowa State outscored Oklahoma 31-17 off of turnovers.
- The Cyclones also recorded 22 fast-break points to the Sooners’ seven.
- OU had a nine rebound advantage over the Cyclones (50-41), but could not convert that advantage into the points necessary to win the game.
- Before this game, Iowa State was 1-4 against Lon Kruger at Lloyd Noble Center.
- Oklahoma led this game for almost 34 of the 50 minutes, but again could not close the deal.
- The Sooners’ bench, which had averaged 26 points over the previous six Big 12 games, contributed only 10 points vs. Iowa State.
- Sophomore center Jamuni McNeace was scoreless in the game after posting a career-high 14 points in the Sooners’ win over West Virginia earlier in the week.
- Iowa State improved its record to 12-6 and 4-3 in Big 12 games; Oklahoma dropped to 2-5 in the Big 12 and 8-10 overall.
- Oklahoma’s next two Big 12 games are at Texas on Monday and at home against Oklahoma State in Bedlam the following Monday. Those two teams are a combined 2-12 in Big 12 action and the only two teams below the Sooners in the conference standings.