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Oklahoma Basketball: Young Sooners Have Fallen on Hard Times

By Chip Rouse

Dec 3, 2016; Madison, WI, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Christian James (3) works the ball against Wisconsin Badgers guard Bronson Koenig (right) at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Oklahoma 90-70. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Madison, WI, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Christian James (3) works the ball against Wisconsin Badgers guard Bronson Koenig (right) at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Oklahoma 90-70. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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The young Oklahoma basketball Sooners found a different way to lose in recording their third consecutive loss and fourth in five games on Wednesday night.

Apr 2, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger argues with an referee during the first half against the Villanova Wildcats in the 2016 NCAA Men
Apr 2, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lon Kruger argues with an referee during the first half against the Villanova Wildcats in the 2016 NCAA Men /

The Sooners trailed all but about five minutes in their game Wednesday night with Auburn. Oklahoma whittled away at what at one time was a 17-point second-half deficit, but couldn’t get it any closer than four points, which ended up as the final margin in a 74-70 loss to the Tigers out of the SEC.

The loss broke a six game winning streak for OU and head coach Lon Kruger over teams from the SEC.

Although they produced several scoring bursts in the second half, Auburn always managed to have an answer, and it resulted in a fifth loss for Oklahoma and the Sooners worst nonconference record in six seasons under Kruger.

Oklahoma now finds itself on very thin ice with a 6-5 record heading into what is certain to be a very trying Big 12 schedule.

At the moment, with the top six teams in the Big 12 sporting a combined record of 65-5 and the Sooners set to face four of those six over the first couple of weeks of the conference season, I’m not sure OU is capable of beating any Big 12 team. And that is a very scary notion for a team that went to the Final Four just last season.

Here are the key concerns to take away from the loss to Auburn:

  • The Sooners desperately need Jordan Woodard on the floor. The senior guard missed his first game in four seasons after suffering a groin pull in practice this week. Woodard had started 115 consecutive games since coming to Oklahoma. Without him. the Sooners had all kinds of difficulty in their offensive sets, especially in the early part of the game with Auburn.

    • With Woodard not available, coach Lon Kruger went with his fifth different starting lineup this season. Finding offensive consistency has been a major issue for the Sooners so far in 2016-17.

    Once again, Oklahoma suffered from poor shooting. The Sooners shot just 32 percent from the game. Even worse, they were just 5 of 17 on three-point attempts (29 percent), including 1 for 9 in the first half.

    Dec 3, 2016; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) attempts to retain control of the ball as Oklahoma Sooners forward Khadeem Lattin (12) defends at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Oklahoma 90-70. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
    Dec 3, 2016; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Nigel Hayes (10) attempts to retain control of the ball as Oklahoma Sooners forward Khadeem Lattin (12) defends at the Kohl Center. Wisconsin defeated Oklahoma 90-70. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /

    Where has Khadeem Lattin been lately? Last Saturday, in the loss to Memphis, the 6-foot, 9-inch junior played only sparingly because of foul trouble. He played only 17 minutes against Auburn, not necessarily because of fouls this time. Jamuni McNeace was in the majority of the time on Wednesday night in place of Lattin, and he contributed eight points and seven rebounds. Lattin and Woodard are the lone returning starters from last season’s team, and the Sooners need their leadership and, more so, their production.

  • Christian James is OU’s second leading scorer and best three-point threat. On Wednesday night, however, he was only 3 of 15 from the floor and 1 of 5 from beyond the three-point line for a total of 10 points in 32 minutes of action.

    • The Sooners’ next opponent, in their Big 12 opener, is Baylor. The Bears are currently 12-0 (exactly where OU was this time a year ago) and ranked No. 4 in the country. That is the highest ranked team the Sooners have played in 2016-17.

    It wasn’t all negative, though. There were a few positives in the game, as well…but very few:

    • Freshman Jordan Shepherd has scored 31 points in the last two games after scoring just 24 total in the first nine games.
    • The Sooners collected 17 offensive rebounds in the Auburn game, a season high.
    • Oklahoma forced Auburn into a season-high 23 turnovers. That is the most by an OU team since the 2014-15 season.
    • Three of the Sooner freshmen – Kristian Doolittle, Matt Freeman and Shepherd – combined for 28 points against Auburn.
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