Oklahoma basketball: Four takeaways from a game OU should have won

Oklahoma basketball kept things razor close for a good 36 minutes at Texas Tech on Tuesday night, and even held the lead for a good part of that time, but couldn’t hold off the Red Raiders in the closing minutes and finally succumbed 69-61.

The game was actually much closer than the final eight-point victory margin indicated. Four points was the largest lead by either team until Oklahoma built a five-point lead, 41-36, four minutes into the second half and Texas Tech went ahead by six points, 62-56, with just over two minutes remained in the game.

With 19 points, OU’s Brady Manek logged his fifth game in the last six scoring 18 points or more. Austin Reaves added 16 more for the Sooners. For the second straight game, the duo combined for more than 50 percent of Oklahoma’s points.

Four Texas Tech starters scored in double figures, contributing all but seven of the Red Raiders’ 69 points.

The Red Raiders’ improved to 14-8 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12. The loss was Oklahoma’s eighth in 22 games and dropped them below .500, at 4-5, in the Big 12.

Here are four main takeaways from the game:

Scoring help absent behind Manek and Reaves

Brady Manek and Austin Reaves have been carrying the scoring load for Oklahoma the last three games, but there has been little help from everyone else. Manek has been on a scoring terror lately, averaging 21.6 points over his last six games. Reaves has come out of his recent shooting slump. In the last three games, the Wichita State transfer is averaging 16.3 points and shooting better from three-point range. The big question is: What has happened to Kristian Doolittle?

Doolittle took just seven shots against Texas Tech and made four of them for a total of eight points in 34 minutes of action. The last time he reached his 14.4 scoring average in a game was eight games ago, and he hasn’t scored in double figures in his last five games.

Like it or not, the Sooners count on their Big Three to carry the scoring load because there isn’t sufficient offensive production coming from the rest of the rotation. OU has generally gotten good games from two of the three, but rarely all three. In the absence of that, someone else needs to step up. Alondes Williams has had several good games recently and starting point guard De’Vion Harmon has reached double figures in three Big 12 games. But overall, the Sooner scoring distribution has been inconsistent.

Seven second-half turnovers come at the wrong time

Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in the fewest turnovers per game. The Sooners committed just three in opening half at Texas Tech, but they had trouble protecting the ball in several key possessions in the second half and ended up turning the ball over seven times in the final 20 minutes. In several of those possession, OU had the opportunity to take the lead or expand its lead.

Texas Tech takes 11 more free throws than the Sooners

Texas Tech committed just 10 personal fouls, sending Oklahoma to the foul line for just six free-throw attempts. The Sooners made five of them. The Red Raiders had 11 more free-throw attempts than Oklahoma, making 11 of the 17. The six extra free-throw points was almost the difference in the game.

Sooner defense tires in the second half

Oklahoma played exceptional defense against a good Texas Tech offense in the first half. The Red Raiders had trouble getting good looks at the basket and were held to 10-of-25 shooting for 40 percent in the first 20 minutes. The second half was a different story, however, as the Red Raiders got more ball movement, better looks inside and out and got even hotter from behind the three-point line. Texas Tech shot 68 percent in the second half, making 14 of 21 shots, including four of six from three-point range.

While the Red Raider shooting improved, the Oklahoma shooting percentage went down in the second half, from 48 percent (12 of 25) to 42 percent (13 of 31).