Oklahoma basketball: Numbers that matter from Red River ambush
By Chip Rouse
Austin, Texas, the capitol of the Lone Star State and home to the Texas Longhorns, has not been a friendly place for Oklahoma basketball the last 12 years.
The Sooners have won just twice there in the past dozen seasons, and that included Oklahoma teams featuring a pair of national players of the year.
Oklahoma rolled into Austin on Saturday for the first of its two-game regular-season series with the hated Longhorns sporting the player believed to be the prohibitive favorite for this year’s national player of the year award, only to suffer the same fate.
Coming into the basketball version of the Red River rivalry, the Sooners were 7-0 this season when shooting 50-percent or better and 10-0 when their freshman sensation Trae Young posted a double-double in the game. You can check both of those boxes in Saturday’s game. Contrary to Einstein’s popular definition of insanity, however, this time the outcome was different.
The Longhorns, after trailing for most of the game, unleased a 13-0 run in the final eight minutes and outscored Oklahoma 22 to 8 to close the game, handing the Sooners their fourth loss in the last six games and their 11th loss in the last 13 meetings with Texas in Austin.
That left 12th-ranked Oklahoma with a 16-6 record for the season and 6-4 in the Big 12.
Here are some other numbers that matter from a loss the Sooners are going to have to get over quickly with West Virginia heading to Norman for a “Big Monday” nationally televised showdown between two top-25 teams:
2 for 14 – Three-point attempts by Trae Young, his worst three-point percentage of the season (14.2 percent).
3 for 22 – Oklahoma’s three-point ratio against Texas, or a dreadful 13.6 percent.
4 – The Sooners have lost four of the last six games. All four losses have been on the road.
13-0 – Texas run in the final eight minutes of the game that erased a 65-76 Oklahoma lead.
21 – Personal fouls by the Sooners, leading to 20 made free throws by Texas out of 27 attempts.
22 – Bench points by Sooner reserves vs. Texas, including 16 by Jamuni McNeace.
37-25 – Oklahoma’s rebounding advantage vs. Texas.
40 – Minutes in the game for OU’s Trae Young.
56 – Number of points scored by Oklahoma in the paint (inside the free-throw lane at the basket) against the Longhorns, 34 coming in the first half.
29:38 – The length of time Oklahoma held the leave over Texas on Saturday.
56 – Points in the paint for Oklahoma, compared with 26 for Texas.
15.533 – Attendance at the Irwin Center in Austin, Texas, for Round I of the 2017-18 Red River basketball series.