Oklahoma basketball: Numbers that mattered in OU’s loss to Iowa State
By Chip Rouse
When Trae Young contributes 55 percent of the Oklahoma basketball offense in scoring and assists, the Sooners are 12-2 this season.
He came close to that on Saturday, with 22 points of his own and 11 assists, but like the Sooners as a team, came up short in his efforts.
Oklahoma found itself behind by 17 points, 40-23, with 4:20 remaining in the opening half, and that deficit proved to much to make up, although the Sooners managed to draw even at three different times with less than five minutes to go in the game.
Iowa State held on, gradually widening their advantage to eight and an 88-80 win over a struggling Sooner team that has been in a free fall after knocking off then-No. 5 Kansas on Jan. 23. Oklahoma has lost five of six since then, and could have easily lost the game that they won in that stretch.
The Sooners have gone from a No. 4 ranking the week of Jan. 15 to No. 17 this week and likely outside of the top 25 when the new rankings are revealed on Monday.
The road couldn’t get any more difficult for a team that is easily the biggest disappointment in college basketball over the last month. On Tuesday, Oklahoma is on the road again, this time in Lubbock, Texas, to square off against Texas Tech, which will be sitting alone at the top of the Big 12 standings if the Red Raiders can get by Kansas State on Saturday night.
Other numbers that mattered from Oklahoma’s seventh straight loss at Iowa State:
1 – In a Tuesday night loss to West Virginia, Trae Young had just one assist. On Saturday at Iowa State, the nation’s leading score made just one of eight three-point shots, and that was in the opening half.
6 – Number of games this season out of 24 in which Trae Young has scored fewer than 25 points, including three of the last five.
8 – Minutes by which the Oklahoma defense held Iowa State scoreless in the second half, during which Oklahoma fought back to deadlock the score at 71.
17 – Rebounds by Iowa State freshman Cameron Lard, including nine on the offensive glass.
17 – Oklahoma turnovers, which resulted in 19 Iowa State points.
20 of 22 – The Sooners’ free-throw percentage vs. Iowa State.
22 – Points scored by Christian James on Saturday, matching the 22 scored by Trae Young.
33.3 – Shooting percentage by OU (11 of 33) in the opening half at Iowa State. Meanwhile, Iowa State shot 48.6 percent in the first half.
34:49 – Time in the game that Iowa State was in the lead vs. Oklahoma. The Sooners led for a total of one minute, 29 seconds.
59 – Percentage of Oklahoma’s field goal attempts taken by Trae Young and Christian James vs. Iowa State.
64 – Points scored by Lindell Wigginton (26), Donovan Jackson (19) and Cameron Lard (19) of Iowa State’s 88 total points.
14,384 – Attendance on Saturday at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum.