Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners’ Decline Hits Big 12 Rock Bottom
By Chip Rouse
Another close game for the Oklahoma basketball men ends up on the short end of the count.
For the first time in seven consecutive games – and the first time since 2004 in Norman – Oklahoma State has won a Bedlam basketball battle over archrival Oklahoma, defeating the Sooners 68-66 on Monday night.
It’s getting very old and stale by now, but once again the Sooners were unable to put away a game that they just as easily could have one. Two missed free throws by sophomore Dante Buford, who otherwise enjoyed a very good game, opened the door for Oklahoma State to overcome a five-point deficit with just 68 seconds to go in the game and pull out a comeback 68-66 victory.
It was two clutch second-half three-pointers by Buford, however, that allowed the Sooners to fight back from 10 points down midway through the second half and make a game of it after it appeared the Cowboys were on the verge of pulling away for good.
Buford shouldn’t shoulder all of the blame, though. Just when it appeared that Oklahoma had secured the victory with a rebound by Kamerom McGusty of a missed Oklahoma State shot attempt, the young freshman threw the ball into the hands of OSU’s Mitchell Solomon before falling out of bounds. Solomon was fouled going up for the shot and promptly put the Cowboys within a single point by sinking two free throws with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
In retrospect, McGusty should have called time out before loosing his balance and going out of bounds, but that is the inexperience showing up in a first-year player.
On the ensuing Oklahoma possession, Jordan Woodard lost the ball to the Cowboys’ Juwan Evans while attempting to advance it up court. That eventually resulted in a long three-pointer by Phil Forte that put the Pokes up by two, 68-66, with just four ticks left on the game clock.
That was pretty much the sum of it, as Oklahoma fell to the bottom of the Big 12 standings with a third consecutive conference loss and the fourth in a row overall. The Sooners have not won a game since upsetting West Virginia on the road two weeks ago. OU is now 2-7 in conference play and 8-13 through all games.
Oklahoma has now lost 11 of its last 13 games.
“We didn’t make the plays we needed to make. Down the stretch, OSU did,” said Sooner head coach Lon Kruger in his postgame comments.
The Sooners will remain in sole possession of the Big 12 basement depending on the outcome of Tuesday night’s game between Texas and Texas Tech. OU and Texas were tied for the bottom spot going into the Bedlam game, both with 2-6 conference records.
“We didn’t make the plays we needed to make. Down the stretch, OSU did.” –OU head coach Lon Kruger
For a second straight “Big Monday” appearance on ESPN, Oklahoma let a lead slip way at the very end because of the inability to make free throws. A week ago in a game at Texas, McGusty missed two free throws with the Sooners owning a two-point lead that opened the door for a desperation three-point shot that ended up beating the Sooners by one point.
Inexperience or not, McGusty led Oklahoma in scoring once again with a career-high 22 points. It was the third time in the past seven games that the freshman guard has reached the 20-point level. Buford was the only other Sooners to reach double figures, with 11.
Woodard had seven points, but once again was well below his scoring average, adding to the speculation that something is still very wrong with the OU four-year starter and scoring leader.
At their current pace, the Sooners are heading toward a record of10-20 for the season and a frightening 4-14 in the Big 12. Oklahoma has not fared that poorly in a season since 1980-81, when they went 9-18 in Billy Tubbs first season in Norman. The Sooners were 4-10 that season against Big Eight opponents.
Notable Numbers from another heartbreaking Sooner loss:
6 – Number of blocked shots by Khadeem Lattin against Oklahoma State, a season high for the OU junior.
11– Points in the game by Oklahoma State’s Lindy Waters, who is from Norman.
15.8 – Kameron McGusty’s scoring average in Big 12 play. That leads all freshmen in the conference.
21:46 – Time Oklahoma led in the game with Oklahoma State, although the Sooners trailed most of the second half.
22 – The Sooners had 22 points of the bench vs. Oklahoma State, 11 of those coming from Dante Buford.
46 – Oklahoma’s shooting percentage against the Cowboys, who finished at 33 percent for the game. The Sooner shooting percentage was a vast improvement over the 28-percent performance in their 32-point loss to Florida this past weekend.
88 – Oklahoma State’s scoring average for the season. The Sooners held the Cowboys 20 points below their season average.
2013 – The last time Oklahoma State defeated the Oklahoma men in basketball (Feb. 26, 2013) before Monday night’s win over the Sooners.
1968 – The last time an Oklahoma men’s basketball team finished in last place in the league.