This was a game that Oklahoma basketball will look back on and wonder what in the world happened.
The Sooners led in this game for almost 43 minutes, but could not find a way to finish. No. 25 Texas closed out Oklahoma on a 25-5 run at the end of the game to erase a 58-51. Sooner lead with just over seven minutes to go and win going away 76-63.
The stunning loss probably will drop Oklahoma from the one line in the NCAA Tournament “Bracketology” projections with two games to go in the regular season.
Unfortunately, after holding onto a six point lead at 58-51, the Sooners went ice cold for over seven minutes, while the Longhorns scored 19 unanswered points. Game over.
Buddy Hield was Buddy Hield, scoring a game-high 31 points , but even the probable National Player of the Year went cold down the stretch. The OU All=American had only three points down the stretch when Texas took control of the game.
The Sooners had won 17 of 18 games this season when leading at the half, which they did 40-37 a t the intermission in this game, but OU could not hold off the aggressive Longhorns down the stretch, and it cost them the game and a share of second place in the Big 12 standings.
Texas climbed to 10-6 in Big 12 play and a three-way tie with Baylor and the Sooners for third place in the conference standings.
What went right for the Sooners:
- Buddy Hield returned to the Hield of old, scoring 21 first-half points and 31 for the game. The Sooner All-American hit 50 percent of his field-goal tries and 6 of 13 three-balls, but he didn’t get a lot of help from his teammates. who scored only 32 more points combined.
- The Sooners led for over 32 minutes in this game, but they went cold at the worst possible time, and it cost them the victory,
- Jordan Woodard was the only other Sooner in double figures with a 15-point performance.
What went wrong for Oklahoma:
- Only three Sooners scored 55 of Oklahoma’s 63 points in the game, and Buddy Hield had almost 50 percent of the OU scoring with 31 points (Jordan Woodard added 15 and Isaiah Cousins had 9, all in the first half).
- Oklahoma had won 17 of 18 games this season in which it had led at the half. After shooting 47 percent in the opening half, the Sooners shot only 29 percent in the second half.
- Oklahoma won at West Virginia last weekend because they controlled the boards. Against Texas, the Sooners were outrebounded by a margin of 13, and 12-9 on the offensive boards.
- Texas outscored Oklahoma by a commanding 34-16 in the paint and 26-4 in bench points.
- Texas had 18 more free-throw attempts than the Sooners, hitting 20 of 27 vs. 7 of 9 for Oklahoma.
The loss dropped the Sooners to 22-6 on the season and 10-6 in the Big 12. It also likely knocked OU down to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.