Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners Struggles Rage on
By Chip Rouse
Iowa State broke open a tie game at 41-all, five minutes into the second half, with a 27-7 run that put away Oklahoma en route to an 80-64 home victory for the Cyclones on Saturday.
It was the Cyclones’ sixth straight home win over the Sooners, who dropped their seventh consecutive game this season and their 14th in the last 16 games. Oklahoma’s season record is now 8-16, ensuring a second losing season under head coach Lon Kruger and their fourth in the 21-year existence of the Big 12 Conference.
A season that clearly has not gone the way Sooner fans would like it, may have gotten even worse in the loss at Iowa State. Senior point guard Jordan Woodard went down on the floor with just under seven minutes to go in the game with what appeared to be an injury to his right knee. He did not return.
Woodard is the one player that OU cannot afford to lose, with his scoring and senior leadership on a very young team.
As in OU’s last outing, a nine-point loss to West Virginia on Wednesday, turnovers were the difference in the game. The Sooners committed 14 turnovers, and Iowa State capitalized on them, scoring 17 points off of Oklahoma’s sloppy handling of the ball.
Freshman Kameron McGusty led the Sooners with 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Sophomore Rashard Odomes had 11. It was McGusty’s 12th consecutive game scoring in double figures.
Junior-college transfer Darrion Strong-Moore had a strong game, contributing nine points off the bench for the Sooners.
A quartet of Iowa State seniors produced 60 of the Cyclones’ 80 points in the game, led by Naz Mitrou-Long, who had a game-high 23 point, 15 of those coming on made three-point shots (5 of 11). Floor leader Monte Morris added 13, as did Matt Thomas and Deonte Burton scored 11 points for the Cyclones, who improved to and 7-5 in the Big 12.
Even in defeat, there were several positives for Oklahoma. The Sooners outrebounded Iowa State 47-32, including 16 offensive boards. The 15-point rebounding margin was the most by OU this season.
The 47-rebound total was the second most in 2016-17 by the Sooners. OU pulled down 50 boards the last time these two teams played.
OU scored 14 more points in the paint than the Cyclones (32-18), who were comfortable penetrating on the dribble and kicking it back out, where Thomas, Mitrou-Long and Donovan Jackson rained threes. The Cyclones made 12 of 26 three-balls, for 46.2 percent, the same percentage they shot from the field overall.
The Sooners took a very brief lead, 29-28, in the first half after training by as many as nine points early. That was the first and only time OU would lead in the game. Iowa State responded with a 10-0 run to close out the opening half and take a 38-29 lead into intermission.
Oklahoma has failed to score 70 points in its last five games. The last time the Sooners scored more than 70 points in a game was six games ago when they scored 83 in an 84-83 loss at Texas.
Next up, ironically: the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday night in Norman.