Oklahoma basketball victories have become few and far between this season. The Sooners have won two games in the last two months and none since mid-January.
On Tuesday night, round two in the Red River basketball rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas unfolds at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The last meeting between the Sooners and Longhorns, a last-second heartbreaking loss by the Sooners at Texas, was loss number two in what is now a seven-game Sooner losing streak.
Normally, home court would be an advantage to Oklahoma – and it has definitely been an advantage to the Sooners in past seasons – but not so this year. OU is 5-7 on its home court overall this season and just 1-5 against teams from the Big 12.
To find a year in which Oklahoma lost more games at home than they won you have to go back almost 40 years – 1977-78, to be exact. That season, the Sooners had a better record on the road than at home. They were 8-5 in true road games and just 4-6 when playing at home.
Oklahoma owns a 53-37 record all-time against the Longhorns and the winning margin swells to 27-11 in games played at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners have won six of the last nine games played against their archrivals from south of the Red River and the last four played in Norman.
There have been quite a few years when both the Sooners and the Longhorns were playing in the upper tier of the Big 12 standings, but that is not the case this season. Oklahoma is the only team in the conference worse off than Texas in 2016-17.
These two longtime rivals are not only at the bottom of the heap in the league standings, they also are bringing up the rear in multiple statistical categories, including scoring offense, scoring margin, field-goal percentage, three-point field-goal percentage, assists and assists-to-turnover ratio.
Oklahoma is a dreadful 2-10 in Big 12 play (8-16 overall), and the Longhorns are two games better than the Sooners, at 4-8 in the conference and 10-15 overall. The biggest factor contributing to the off years for both teams can be summed up in two words: youth movement. These are the two youngest teams in the conference
The Longhorn starting lineup consists of a senior, two sophomores and two freshman. OU’s starting rotation is strikingly similar, especially now that senior scoring leader and team leader Jordan Woodard is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. The Sooners will likely go with two juniors, a sophomore and two freshman to begin the game on Tuesday.
In the first game this season between OU and Texas, a pair of Sooner freshmen, Kameron McGusty and Kristian Doolittle combined for 50 points. Oklahoma let a five-point lead evaporate with under a minute to go, capped by an NBA-distance, last-second three-pointer by Andrew Jones that stole the game from the Sooners and delivered an 84-83 victory to the Longhorns.
Three Things You Should Know About the Sooners for This Game
- The biggest concern for Oklahoma the rest of the way is where the offense is going to come from. The Sooners are only averaging 74 points a game with Woodard. With him out of the lineup, they are losing, on average, 14 points a game. And even with him available, Oklahoma has not scored as many as 70 points in its last five games.
- The Sooners have now endured two separate seven-game losing streaks this season. It’s hard to believe that isn’t wearing on their mental outlook.
- Oklahoma’s bench, which is about as young as its starters, averages 21.6 points per game, second best in the Big 12.
Three Things to Know About the Longhorns for This Game
- Texas big man, 6-foot, 11-inch Freshman Jarrett Allen, scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the Longhorns game vs. Oklahoma State last Saturday. In 12 Big 12 games, Allen is averaging a team-best 16.3 polnts and 10.3 rebounds per game.
- Twelve of the Longhorns’ 25 games this season have been decided by five points of less. Texas is 5-7 in those games.
- Texas has won nine of the last 15 games played against Oklahoma.
Game Prediction
Neither of these two are particularly explosive on the offensive end. Texas only averages 69 points a game, but the Sooners haven’t seen that many points after their name in the last five contests. Without Jordan Woodard, it’s hard to imagine Oklahoma mustering enough offense to come out on top in this rivalry game. But it is a rivalry game, and OU is playing at home (where admittedly, though, they have been awful this season). My gut tells me OU may want this game more than the Horns, for a variety of reasons, so I’m going to stick with the Crimson and Cream in this one, but in a very close encounter.
Oklahoma 66, Texas 63.