Oklahoma basketball: Notable numbers from a gallant OU effort
By Chip Rouse
Sometimes your best effort isn’t good enough, and that was the case in a tremendous Oklahoma basketball effort that came up just short on of upsetting the nation’s 17th-ranked team on Monday night.
The Sooners gave it everything they had for a full 40 minutes — something that hasn’t been readily apparent at home or on the road the past couple of weeks — but the Iowa State Cyclones jumped ahead at the start of the second half and held on late for a 75-74 win over Oklahoma.
It was OU’s fifth conference loss in the last six games and dropped the Sooners to 3-7 in the Big 12 and in further jeopardy of missing out on an NCAA Tournament bid. OU has been stuck on 15 overall wins for the last three games, three short of their win total for last season.
The final score was indicative of how incredibly even the game was played. Both teams recorded 28 field goals and shot right around 44 percent for the game. Oklahoma led for all but 49 seconds in the opening half; Iowa State led for all but 24 seconds in the second half.
In the end it was at least three beyond-NBA-range three-point daggers by Iowa State with time running out on the shot clock, rebounding and second-chance baskets in the tight second half that proved to be the difference and staved off the Sooners’ upset bid.
Here are some more notable numbers from what turned out to be a great Big 12 game in front of a primetime audience:
2 — This was only the second time in 14 games in which Oklahoma lost after scoring at least 30 points in the first half.
7 — OU 36-35 halftime advantage over Iowa State marked the first time in seven Big 12 games the Sooners have led at the half.
9 — All nine Sooners who saw action against Iowa State scored and all but one contributed at least one rebound.
10 — Oklahoma led by 10 points, 21-11, midway through the first half. That was the largest lead by either team in the game.
12 — A dozen of Brady Manek’s 16 points in the game came on four of seven from three-point range.
13 — Oklahoma scored 13 points off of 11 Iowa State turnovers.
19 — The Sooners’ Kristian Doolittle led all scorers in the game with 19 points.
41-36 — Iowa State’s rebounding advantage over Oklahoma in Monday night’s game. It was the seventh time in the last eight games OU has been outrebounded by its opponent.
8,889 — Attendance at Lloyd Noble Center for the game.