OU Basketball: Sooners Do Themselves Proud Despite Loss

Someone has to win, but on Monday night at Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse, the Oklahoma basketball team was in no way the loser.

Let me explain. The box score read No. 1 Kansas 109, No. 1 Oklahoma 106 in triple overtime, a pretty straightforward description that the Jayhawks had defeated the previously unbeaten Sooners and, as such, were the true king of the college basketball world, erasing any controversy that might exist among the national polls.

Except that is not at all what the results of last night’s game actually revealed nor what any Sooner fan should take away from the outcome. The Jayhawks and their fans may feel all high and mighty because the victory in this epic game was ultimately recorded on their side of the ledger, but I can guarantee you, they won’t have to work harder for a win than they did on Monday in their own building and in front of 16,000 of their closest followers.

Oklahoma, on the other hand, can collectively walk away from this game with its head held extremely high. The Sooners played a fantastic game in one of the hardest places to play in America for a road team, and their star and team leader, Buddy Hield played absolutely out of his mind, pummeling the Kansas defense for a career high 46 points. That figure also ties the all-time record for the most points scored against the Jayhawks by an individual player.

Early on in this game, it appeared that it was going to be another long night at Allen Fieldhouse for the visiting Sooners – and I’m not talking about the length of the game. The Jayhawks built up an 11-point lead in the opening half (their largest of the game, by the way) before Oklahoma came storming back right before halftime, going on an 18-3 run to take a four-point lead, 44-40, into intermission.

The Sooners’ largest advantage in the game was 10 points early in the second half. Oklahoma actually led for 16:31 of the second half, before a three-point play by the Jayhawks’ Devonte Graham tied the game at 72 and put Kansas up by one with the and-one free-throw.

From that point, it was back and forth through the end of regulation and into triple overtime. The lead exchanged sides 10 times in the three overtime sessions. The three overtimes it took to settle the final score in this rare battle of dual No. 1 teams (Kansas began the game at No, 1 in the AP Media Poll and the Sooners are No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll).

Both teams had a chance to end the game in regulation. Kansas had the ball in a tie game with 19 seconds left, but Frank Mason III missed a layup, and the Jayhawks’ Landon Lucas was called for a foul going over the back of OU Khadeem Lattin on the rebound with just two ticks left on the clock. It was a highly controversial call, given the time in the game and the fact that most officials generally don’t like to have the final outcome of a game decided on a foul call.

The good news for KU was that Lattin is the Sooners’ worst foul shooter among the starters, hitting only 54 percent of his free throws. That stat held true on Monday as Lattin missed the front end of a one-and-one that essentially would have sealed the win.

In the end, the Sooners simply ran out of gas. They played with the same five players for the final 20 minutes of the game, except when Jordan Woodard, who also played one heck of a game, pouring in 27 points and hitting six of nine three-point shots, fouled out with 15 seconds to go in the third overtime session.

There is really no other way to describe it. This was a game worthy of the ages. An epic, back-and-forth, fight-to-the-finish battle that could easily have gone either way.

“Given what’s at stake and the stage and all, I don’t know that I’ve been in one better,” said Sooner head coach Lon Kruger after the game, and he certainly has been in quite a few – and on this very floor, in fact, as both a player and head coach.

The fact that Oklahoma was able to overcome all of the factors working against it – the venue, featuring the loudest crowd in college basketball and where Kansas has rewarded its loyal fans losing just three times since 2007, an 11-time defending league champion as the opponent, not to mention that OU has not won a game at Kansas in 23 seasons – is a huge accomplishment in and of itself.

The Sooners did drop from the unbeaten ranks, which is not that big an issue, really, recognizing that you are going to lose a game or two or three over the course of a long season no matter how good you are. Not having to play at Allen Fieldhouse anymore this season is a very comforting thought – good luck to all the rest of you! – and Oklahoma has a chance to settle the score when the Jayhawks visit Norman on Saturday, Feb. 13.

There are story lines in abundance from this game. Here are some of the more noteworthy you might not be aware of:

• This was the first triple overtime game in the regular season to be played between a No. 1- and No. 2-ranked team. No. 1 and No. 2 have met 40 times previously in college basketball.
• Oklahoma’s last triple-overtime game was at home against Nebraska in the 1995-96 season. That outcome was better, a 117-100 win.
• The Sooners made 16 of 33 three-point shots, the second time this season they have made as many treys in a single game and the eighth time they have reached double digits in that department in a game.
• Buddy Hield’s 46 points ties the most by a player in Division I college basketball this season. It also is the most for a Sooner player since Brent Price had a 56-point effort in 1990-91 against Loyola Marymount.
• Ryan Spangler, playing on a knee he injured on Saturday in the win over Iowa State, played 51 minutes, the most ever by a Sooner player 6-8 or taller, and scored 14 points along with 18 rebounds. His 18 rebounds were the most by a Kansas opponent since 2004.
• Khadeem Lattin may have missed a free throw that could have won the game in regulation, but he made a major contribution to keep the Sooners in the game. He had 14 rebounds and a career-high-tying six blocks in the game.