How sweet it is for Sweet 16-bound Oklahoma basketball as Buddy Hield goes wild in the second half, leading the Sooners to an 85-81 NCAA Tournament win over 10-seed Virginia Commonwealth.
It was a tale of two halves for the Sooner All-American, as Hield scored 19 of Oklahoma’s final 22 points in the game and 29 of the team’s 41 second-half points after registering just seven first-half points.
The Sooners now head to Anaheim, Calif., as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, their second-straight year advancing to the round of 16.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first seven minutes against Virginia Commonwealth and took a 44-31 advantage into halftime. The Sooners went to halftime with nine offensive rebounds as the Oklahoma front line dominated the backboards early.
The second half, though, was another story as the VCU Rams came out of the locker room with fire in their eyes and much greater intensity on the offensive and defensive glass.
Half way through the second 20 minutes, VCU had erased the Sooners’ 13-point halftime advantage, outscoring OU 28-15 to deadlock the game at 59, the closest they had been since the score was 5-4 in favor of OU 134 seconds into the game.
From that point on, the man they call Buddy Buckets put the Sooners on his shoulders and. like he has done over and over again throughout the season, he personally willed Oklahoma to its second NCAA Tournament win of the weekend.
After the game was tied at 59 apiece, Hield scored 21 of OU’s final 26 points. His 29 second-half points was a career high for the two-time Big 12 Player of the Year.
What Went Right for the Sooners?
- Held to seven first-half points and forced to sit the final six minutes of the first half after committing his second personal foul, Buddy Hield erupted for 29 second-half points.
- Only five other players have had 29 points in a game through the first two rounds of this tournament.
- Hield’s 36 total points was the 13th time in his career that he has scored 30 or more points in a game, tying the Big 12 record previously held by Michael Beasley in 2007-08.
- The Sooners shot 48.3 percent for the game on 29 of 60 field-goal attempts, with Buddy Hield shooting 55 percent by himself on 11 of 20, including 6 of 14 from behind the three-point line.
- Hield was easily the high scorer in the game, but Isaiah Cousins and Jordan Woodard also shot well, especially when Hield was out of the game at the end of the first half. Cousins added 15 points and Woodard contributed 17.
- The three Oklahoma guards – Hield, Cousins and Woodard – contributed 68 of the Sooners 85 total points.
- Oklahoma will be making its 11th NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
- The Sooners scored 20 points off of 13 VCU turnovers.
- Enjoy some highlights from the Oklahoma victory.
What Went Wrong for Oklahoma?
- After controlling the backboards in the opening half against VCU, Oklahoma rebounding advantage, especially on the offensive glass, quickly evaporated in the second half. VCU ended up with a 13-11 edge on the offensive boards for the game. Both teams pulled down 37 total rebounds for the game.
- The Sooners let a 13-point halftime advantage evaporate nine minutes into the second half. This has been a recurring problem for this Oklahoma basketball team, particularly in the latter part of the season.
- Buddy Hield went scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game. Despite that reality, the Sooners led 21-14 when Hield scored his first two points on a layup at the 9:29 mark of the first half.
- All but three of Oklahoma’s 85 points in the game came from the Oklahoma starting five. If the Sooners want to go further in this tournament, they are going to have to get more than three points from their reserves.