Louisiana Tech hands Oklahoma first home loss with 102-98 overtime win

The Sooners were riding a seven game win streak heading in to their Monday contest against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. However, after a 45 minute dogfight (pun fully intended), Oklahoma was on the losing for the first time all season at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs dealt the Oklahoma Sooners a 102-98 defeat in overtime. This is Oklahoma’s second loss on the season, but have no other non-conference outings as Big 12 play starts this weekend.

It was a tough pill to swallow for Lon Kruger’s squad after having one prayer answered at the end of regulation. Not to mention there was a decent home crowd on hand for the game, but Oklahoma could not deliver.

The Sooners started the game hot, taking a 15-2 lead early. However, from the very beginning, Louisiana Tech looked to make it a physical ball game.

OU gave themselves some breathing room and tried keeping the Bulldogs at arms length, but as they showed all night, this was a resilient Louisiana Tech team.

A huge Bulldog run helped them tie the ball game by halftime, shifting all the momentum in their favor.

As the second half rolled around, the Sooners found themselves playing from behind on the downward stretch and this one seemed like a lost cause.

However, Cameron Clark delivered an unbelievable three-point shot with no time to send this one in to overtime.

The Sooners tried building a lead in the extra period, but the Bulldogs hit their free throws late and nothing seemed to fall for the Sooners.

Louisiana Tech gave OU a few opportunities in the final minute, but Alex Hamilton and Raheem Appleby sealed the deal for the Bulldogs to finish off the upset.

As you would expect in a high-scoring contest, six Sooner players were in double figures. Cameron Clark led the way with 26 points and eight rebounds. Ryan Spangler had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

However, Louisiana Tech’s Alex Hamilton stole the show with 31 points for the ‘Dogs, hitting 14-of-18 from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs statistically are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country, but the team hit 80% of their attempts tonight giving them a huge advantage. Also, Cordarius Johnson’s five three-pointers were a huge help.

Oklahoma drops to 11-2 on the season and travels to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. La. Tech has one more game before they begin their Conference USA slate, which they are favored to win this season.