It was all set up for OU basketball to make a huge statement, hosting 11-time reigning Big 12 champion Kansas on the Sooners’ home court and with a standing-room crowd and a national TV audience.
The table was all set for the Sooners to do what they had done for 19 consecutive home games, including a victory over this same Kansas team less than a year earlier. As all in Sooner Nation are by now painfully aware, the big moment did not come.
There were numerous moments during the game when it appeared Oklahoma was about to turn things around. Seemingly every time the Sooners started to separate themselves from the resilient Jayhawks, however, KU would get a stop on the defensive end, and then Devonte Graham or some other long-range Kansas artist would bury a three on the other end, negating an anticipated OU run.
Some college writers, bloggers and even broadcast analysts have cited the missed Buddy Hield free throw with under 30 seconds remaining in the game as the final dagger, but that is much too convenient an excuse. Yes, Hield would have made that free throw nine out of ten times and, in fact, that is exactly what he had done in the game up to that point.
The reality, though, is that Oklahoma lost this game much earlier in the contest when they missed 17 of their first 19 shots. Were it not for 15 first-half free throws, OU could easily have trailed by much more than just five points going into halftime. Even normally high-percentage Buddy Buckets was off his game, missing all six of his shot attempts in the first half.
It was a much closer game the second 20 minutes, but by then the Sooners had long lost their chance to get control of the game. To be perfectly candid, Oklahoma has struggled a little in recent games in getting going out of the gate, and that slow start has cost them in two of their last three games and, if not for a last second shot by Hield against Texas, it would have resulted in three consecutive losses.
So after regaining a share of the conference lead after Kansas defeated No. 10 West Virginia earlier last week before heading to Oklahoma, the Sooners are back in second place, a game back of Kansas and the Mountaineers. And now Lon Kruger’s team finds itself in the awkward position of not being able to control its own destiny the rest of the way.
The Sooners are just a game back of the leaders, but they do not play the Jayhawks any more in the regular season. Kansas swept the two-game series with Oklahoma, even if by just a combined seven points. The Jayhawks would have to lose twice in their remaining six-game conference schedule.
Not an impossible task for the Sooners in their quest to dethrone the 11-time defending conference champions, but it certainly was made much more difficult by the blown opportunity on Saturday.
And we cannot overlook the fact that it is not just the Jayhawks that OU is chasing. West Virginia is a game up on the Sooners as well. Oklahoma has an opportunity to change that, however, when it squares off with the Mountaineers on Saturday in round two of their season series. The Sooners will likely be underdogs in the game, though, having to go on the road to West Virginia.
Looking ahead at the remaining regular-season schedule for the Sooners, they have only two home games remaining (against Baylor and round two in the Bedlam basketball series with Oklahoma State) and are on the road against Texas Tech (on Wednesday), followed by road contests at West Virginia, Texas and TCU. Oklahoma is 6-0 against those six teams, but four of the wins were at Lloyd Noble Center. And the victories over West Virginia and Texas were by a combined five points, both coming at the final buzzer.
A word or warning: If you thinking the trip to Texas Tech on Wedesday will be a walk in the park, think again. Head coach Tubby Smith has the Red Raiders playing exceptionally well of late. Last week, for example, Tech took down No. 14-ranked Iowa State at mid-week and finished off the week with a convincing win over 21st-ranked Baylor.
Kansas should prevail on “Big Monday” this week at home against Oklahoma State, but the Jayhawks still have to go on the road for a rivalry game with Kansas State and to Baylor and Texas. They also have a home game against Iowa State, which is no gimme.
West Virginia has road game left with Texas (on Tuesday), Oklahoma State and Baylor, but they are at home to take on the Sooners, followed by Iowa State and Texas Tech.
All is not dead, but the Sooners clearly have a lot of work to do if they want to get back in the conference title hunt, but the good news is that there are still a half dozen games left with conference opponents, and there is still time for OU to get its offensive swagger back. But Buddy Hield and Company can’t afford any more off games.
That is not an option at this critical point in the season.