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Oklahoma basketball: Five things to know from 2017-18 Season

By Chip Rouse

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: The Oklahoma Sooners sit dejected on the bench en route to being defeated by the Rhode Island Rams 78-83 in overtime during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 15: The Oklahoma Sooners sit dejected on the bench en route to being defeated by the Rhode Island Rams 78-83 in overtime during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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LAWRENCE, KS – FEBRUARY 19: Malik Newman
LAWRENCE, KS – FEBRUARY 19: Malik Newman /

Get some road wins

The Sooners began Big 12 play this past season with a come-from-behind, one-point win at TCU on Dec. 30. That was the last time Oklahoma would win a road game the remainder of the season.

Oklahoma lost eight consecutive regular-season road games after that, plus losing opening-round games in the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Tournament.

If you are going to contend in the Big 12 — or in any conference, for that matter, you must hold serve on your home court and steal a few wins on the road. The Sooners were 13-2 at Lloyd Noble Center this past season, losing only to West Virginia and Texas, but they were not the same team away from home.

OU was 1-9 on the road a year ago, when the Sooners won 11 and lost 20, but was 7-5 in road contests in 2015-16 (and 4-5 against Big 12 opponents away from home that season), when Buddy Hield and Company made it all the way to the Final Four.

From January to the end of the regular season, the Sooners averaged 86 points in nine games at home, close to their scoring average for the entire season, but averaged 10 less than that in eight true road games.

It probably isn’t that unusual to score more points at home than you do on the road, but you still have to be able to win games on the road to be considered a good basketball team. One or two road wins out of a dozen is not going to get a team into many NCAA Tournaments, no matter how many games you win at home.

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