Oklahoma basketball: Sooners never lead in 8-point loss at K-State
By Chip Rouse
Oklahoma basketball never lead in a 61-53 loss at Kansas State, the eighth consecutive game the Sooners have lost in the Little Apple.
A 13-2 OU run late closed to within four points, but the deficit was too great to overcome as the Wildcats avenged an earlier loss to Oklahoma to split the season series.
Oklahoma committed an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers and made just 4 of 21 three-point shots in the losing effort.
Brady Manek, who had averaged 23 points in the Sooners’ last three games, scored just five points on just one of five shooting the entire game. Junior college transfer Alondes Williams led Oklahoma with 15 points and Austin Reaves added 12 as the Sooners were held to a season-low 53 points.
Oklahoma’s big three of Manek, Reaves and Kristian Doolittle. who average a combined 44 points on the season, scored a combined 23 points in the game.
Mike McGuirl came off the bench to score 16 points and lead Kansas State in scoring. Senior Xavier Sneed and Cartier Diarra contributed 22 more as Kansas State won for the second time in Big 12 action and improved the Cats’ record to 9-11 on the season.
The Sooners lost for the fourth time in the last five Big 12 games and fell to 13-7 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.
Kansas State coach Bruce Weber is 8-0 against Oklahoma at home in Manhattan, Kansas.. Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger, a K-State alumni and former player and head coach, has not won in Manhattan since 2012. The Sooner head coach is 1-8 on the road against his alma mater, where his jersey number hangs in the rafters.
Oklahoma trailed by as much as 16 points in the second half, but was never able to overcome the deficit.
Kansas State scored 18 points off of the 19 Oklahoma turnovers, and that proved to be the difference in the game.
The Sooners return home this weekend for a Bedlam matchup on Saturday with Oklahoma State.