Oklahoma basketball: Sooners put 3-game win streak on line at Texas

Oklahoma basketball posted its best win of the season, defeating Kansas on Saturday, but the Sooners can’t afford to rest on that with another big game looming at No. 5 Texas on Tuesday.

The 98th game in the Red River basketball rivalry between OU and Texas will take place at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin on Tuesday evening. The game will be televised beginning at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

The 24th-ranked Sooners (9-4. 5-3) lead the all-time series with the Longhorns 56-41, but are 19-23 when the game is played in Austin. Although Oklahoma has a winning record in the all-time series between the two Red River rivals, Texas has won 20 of the last 31 games and is 4-1 against the Sooners in Austin under Longhorn head coach Shaka Smart.

Oklahoma did win in Austin last season, however, as the two teams won on each other’s home court. OU won 72-62 at Texas, and the Longhorns prevailed 52-51 in Norman when junior guard Matt Coleman III sunk a long three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to rip the wind right out of the Sooners’ sails.

In his nine seasons as Oklahoma head coach, Lon Kruger is 9-9 in games with Texas.

The Sooners have beaten two teams ranked in the top 10 this month and entered the top 25 this week for the first team in the 2020-21 season, checking in at No. 24 in the Associated Press poll.

The Longhorns (11-2, 5-1) have just two losses this season by a combined six points. They lost at No. 3 Villanova by four points in early December and by two points at home against Texas Tech.

What fans need to know about this 98th renewal OU-Texas basketball

• Despite Texas’ top-five ranking, the Longhorns and Sooners are pretty closely matched statistically.
• Texas averages 76.2 points a game; Oklahoma 77.7. Opponents average 65.2 points against the Longhorns; 66.8 against the Sooners.
• Both teams shoot right at 45 percent in field-goal percentage. Texas shoots 35 percent from the three-point arc; Oklahoma shoots 34 percent from long range. The Longhorns have hit 25 of 56 (.446) from three-point range in their past two games.
• The major difference is in rebounding. Texas leads the Big 12, averaging 40.2 boards per game. The Sooners rank sixth, averaging 37.2 rebounds per game. Texas is 8-1 this season when it outrebounds its opponent.
• Texas has not played in 10 days. Their last game was on Jan. 16 at home against Kansas State.
• Four of Texas’ five starters average in double figures in scoring, led by Andrew Jones (14.4). Courtney Ramey averages 13.9 and Matt Coleman III 13.2.
• Senior Austin Reaves leads the Sooners in scoring at 15.2. In the last three games, however, sophomore point guard De’Vion Harmon has averaged 20 points a game, including 22 in the win on Saturday over Kansas.
• Texas defeated then-No. 3 Kansas by 25 points in Lawrence in early January. That was the Jayhawks’ worst home loss in the Bill Self era and tied the worst in the long history of Allen Fieldhouse.
• Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in both free-throw shooting (77 percent as a team) and in the fewest turnovers per game (10.3 per game, 14th nationally).

Prediction

Texas likes to get off to a fast start and put its opponents in a hole early.  The Longhorns are outscoring their opponents by an average of 10 points (38.2 to 29.6) in the opening 20 minutes this season. The good news for the Sooners is they average 36.2 points in the first half, but unlike the Longhorns, the second half has been the best half for OU this season. The Sooners are averaging 41.2 in the second half of games.

Oklahoma has won games in Austin it wasn’t supposed to in the past, but this won’t be one of them. Las Vegas has Texas as a six-point favorite at home on Tuesday.

Texas +10