Oklahoma Basketball: Takeaways From Sooners’ Close-Out Finish

TCU had much more to lose in Saturday’s game against the Sooners, but it was the Oklahoma basketball team that refused to lose in its season home finale.

Mar 4, 2017; Norman, OK, USA; TCU Horned Frogs forward Chris Washburn (33) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma Sooners center Jamuni McNeace (4) during the first half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma took major advantage of TCU’s failure to defend in the paint, scoring 40 of its 73 points in close at the basket and nailing seven of seven clutch free throws down the stretch for a 73-68 win and outright ninth place in the Big 12 standings.

The Sooners were led by their sensational freshman duo of Kameron McGusty and Kristian Doolittle. McGusty led all scorers with 22 points and Doolittle added 19 more along with 13 rebounds.

Oklahoma posted its fifth Big 12 victory and second in the past three games and kept its record perfect (10-0) when playing the Horned Frogs in Norman. The Sooners ended the home season with three consecutive home victories (over Texas, Kansas State and TCU).

These same two teams will face off four days from now in the opening round of the Big 12 postseason tournament in a matchup of eight and nine seeds.

Here are the key takeaways from the OU men’s basketball regular-season finale:

Oklahoma outrebounded TCU 41-38 and shot a better percentage from the field (44 percent to 42 percent).
The Sooners committed a season-low 7 turnovers in the game, which TCU converted into 17 points. OU forced the Horned Frogs into six turnovers, but turned those TCU miscues into just five points.
Oklahoma blocked seven TCU shots, five of those by junior Khadeem Lattin.
Kameron McGusty scored 20 or more points four times this season. That is the most by an OU freshman since Tommy Mason-Griffin recorded seven such games in 2009-10.
Two Sooner players reached double figures in rebounds in the same game for the first time this season. Doolittle pulled down 13 boards and Lattin recorded 10, four on the offensive end to contribute to OU’s 15 second-chance points.
Oklahoma committed just 12 fouls in the entire game. The Sooners attempted 33 free throws in the game, compared with nine for TCU.
TCU missed the front end of three 1-and-1 attempts late in the game that allowed Oklahoma to seize and hold on to the lead in the closing minutes.