Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma basketball: Four breakaways from OU’s win over UTRGV

By Chip Rouse

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Brady Manek #35 of the Oklahoma Sooners handles the ball against Devontae Shuler #2 of the Mississippi Rebels in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Brady Manek #35 of the Oklahoma Sooners handles the ball against Devontae Shuler #2 of the Mississippi Rebels in the second half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Junior forward Brady Manek had a career scoring night and Kur Kuath added 17 points in his first career start in a 91-72 home Oklahoma basketball win over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Monday night.

Manek scored a career-high 29 points, including four of eight from three-point range, but it was the 6-foot, 10-inch Kuath who got the Sooners going early. Kuath scored 10 of Oklahoma’s first 12 points, starting in place of senior Kristian Doolittle.

Doolittle, the Sooners leading scorer, was held out of OU’s next to last nonconference game of the season for what the head coach Lon Kruger described as “a conflict of team interests.”

Kuath made up for Doolittle’s absence and 16.7 scoring average, also adding eight rebounds, two blocked shots and three assists in 25 minutes of action. The redshirt junior from South Sudan got the crowd energized early with a couple of thundering dunks.

Austin Reaves made it a trio of Sooners who reached double figures, scoring 12 points.

This was Oklahoma’s final game on the 2019 side of the schedule. The Sooners will take a 10-3 record into Big 12 Conference play, which tips off on Saturday with OU entertaining Kansas State at Lloyd Noble Center.

UTRGV, coached by former Oklahoma assistant coach Lew Hill, drops to 4-9 on the season. This is Hill’s fourth season coaching the Vaqueros.

First-half domination

Before Monday night, Oklahoma had not held a lead at halftime In four previous home games this season at Lloyd Noble Center. On the eve of New Year’s Eve against UTRGV, the Sooners expoded for 50 first-half points in taking a commanding 50-32 advantage into the locker room at intermission.

Brady Manek scored 18 of his game-high 29 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Hot shooting

Behind the hot hands of Brady Manek and Kur Kuath, Oklahoma shot a scorching 62 percent from the floor in the opening half. The Sooners cooled off some in the second stanza (36 percent), with the game very much under control, but still ended up shooting 51 percent for the game.

Oklahoma scored 38 of its 91 points in the paint.

UTRGV led for a total of just 17 seconds in the game.

Control of the boards

Oklahoma had been outrebounded in five of its last six games, particularly on the offensive end, which often leads to second-chance points. Not against UTRGV.

The Sooners had a 48-38 rebounding advantage over the Vaqueros and 10-4 on the offensive glass.

Too many turnovers

Entering Monday night’s game, Oklahoma ranked No. 2 in the nation, averaging just 9.8 turnovers per game. The last time the Sooners committed more than 10 turnovers in a game was over

OU was uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball against UTRGV, committing a season-high 19 turnovers. Those 19 ball-handling miscues resulted in 10 points for the Vaqueros.

On the other hand, Oklahoma scored 24 points off of 14 UTRGV turnovers.

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