Oklahoma Basketball Heads Out on Must-Win Road Swing
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball begins the final third of the regular season with back-to-back road games this week that could determine if the Sooners stay alive in the Big 12 race.
The first stop in a tough but pivotal week for the OU men is Lubbock, Texas, on Wednesday, to be followed by an even bigger challenge on Saturday at co-conference-leader West Virginia. There is little margin of error remaining for the Sooners, who suffered their fourth conference loss in falling to Kansas for the second time this season on Saturday.
This week will pose a true test of character for Oklahoma basketball, which needs to demonstrate its ability to rebound from adversity and play like the team that earned the No. 1 ranking in college basketball this season.
The last three games, two of them losses for the crimson and cream, have sparked concern in Sooner Nation and around the college basketball landscape that Oklahoma is beginning to whither late in the season, perhaps the result of all of the minutes that the team’s starting five has logged already this season.
The Sooners clearly have the firepower to win at Texas Tech and at West Virginia, but if they continue to fall behind early and shoot poorly, as they have in long stretches in each of their past three outings, they could easily lose their fifth and sixth games in league play and drop like a rock in both the national rankings, not to mention the Big 12 standings. And that would be a terribly disappointing fate for a team that was drawing huge national attention and being billed as a Final Four favorite just a couple of weeks ago.
First things first, however. As OU women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale said earlier this week, “You can’t win the next one until you get the first one,” and that’s exactly what the Sooners must focus on as they prepare to face Texas Tech on Wednesday.
Oklahoma easily disposed of the Red Raiders, winning 91-67 several weeks ago in the game played in Norman. But this is a different venue, and Texas Tech is playing much better than it did in late January when these two teams last met. In back-to-back games last week, Tech defeated No. 14 Iowa State and No. 21 Baylor, and the win over Baylor was by 18 points on the road.
The Sooners have led the nation practically the entire season in three-point shooting, but in the past three games, Oklahoma has been tepid at best in this part of their game. Oklahoma needs to take more opportunities to get the ball inside and drive to the rim when the three-ball is not going down. On the other side of the ball, the Sooners can’t afford to allow teams to shoot close to 50 percent from the field, as they did against Kansas and Kansas State in two of their last three games.
Teams will continue to pressure and double-team Buddy Hield. The other Sooners on the floor are going to have to step up and be able to knock down open shots, like they did with much greater efficiency and confidence earlier in the season. Isaiah Cousins has delivered a string of scoring production over the past half-dozen games. When he was in a slump earlier, Jordan Woodard was the man who stepped up and picked up the OU offense with his shooting. Recently, though, Woodard has struggled at the offensive end, compared to his earlier contributions.
If Cousins and Woodard can get their games going at the same time – and Hield being Hield – there isn’t a team in the country that this Oklahoma team cannot beat, and even do so handily. Case in point: a 23-point win earlier this season over current No. 1 Villanova.
Texas Tech doesn’t score as many points as the Sooners, nor do they have any individuals in the top 10 in the Big 12 in scoring, while Oklahoma has three starters in the top 10 in the league in the scoring column. Don’t be mislead by this, however. The Red Raiders do have players who can shoot the basketball. Tech has three players averaging double-digits in scoring: Devaugntah Williams (11.8), Toddrick Gothcher (10.2) and Zach Smith (10.0).
The Red Raiders (15-9, 5-7) are 11-3 at home this season and have won three of their last four games.
Buddy Hield continues to lead the Big 12 in scoring with a 25.6 average, which ranks second nationally, and the Sooners are the best in the country in three-point percentage, hitting 44 percent of their three-balls. Oklahoma has made at least 10 three-point shots in 16 of its 24 games this season.
Three Keys in the Texas Tech Game
- The Sooners either need to get their shooting rhythm back behind the three-point line or stop relying so much on the three-ball and look for more opportunities to drive to the basket and take the ball inside. At worst, the latter opportunities usually result in a foul, and the Sooners are a good free-throw shooting team, generally speaking.
- Keep Texas Tech off the free-throw line, especially late in the game. The Red Raiders are the best free-throw-shooting team in the Big 12, shooting 77 percent in conference games.
- Control the boards: Oklahoma was never able to get its high-profile transition game going against Kansas. Texas Tech is the worst rebounding team in the Big 12; the Sooners are one of the best. Tough defensive stands and dominating the defensive boards can lead to offensive runs and points scored in a hurry and in a flurry. Something else to consider: When OU scores 80 or more points, which they have done in 15 of 24 games, the Sooners are 14-1.
My pick: Oklahoma 74, Texas Tech 69 – I believe the Red Raiders will try to keep the game in the 60s and force Oklahoma into a half-court offense. The Red Raiders will do all they can to slow down the pace and limit the Sooners’ chances to score off of the transition game.