Oklahoma basketball: Three takeaways from Sooners’ upset of No. 11 Iowa State
By Chip Rouse
Down by 11 points early in the second half, men’s Oklahoma basketball orchestrated a 24-point turnaround on the way to a 13-point upset win over 11th-ranked Iowa State on Saturday.
The Sooners trailed 47-36 three minutes into the second half but outscored Iowa State 43-19 over the next 17 minutes to win going away, 79-66.
Early in the second half, when Iowa State went on a 11-4 run to widen a four-point halftime advantage to 11, the Sooners easily could have been at a breaking point, but instead of giving in they buckled down, showed their resolve and fought their way back into the game.
The win was Oklahoma’s third this season over a team ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll and the 12th of the season for the Sooners against three losses. Iowa State fell to 13-2 overall and has now lost two of its first three Big 12 outings.
Senior shooting guard led the way for the Sooners with 20 points. Fourteen of those points came in the second half. Tanner Groves contributed 16 along with a game-high six rebounds and Elijah Harkless added 13.
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Izaiah Brockington led the Cyclones in scoring. The Big 12 fourth leading scorer tallied 16 of his 20 points in the opening half, hitting seven of eight shots, including two contested three-pointers. The Sooners held him in check in the second half. Brockington was just two of seven shooting over the second 20 minutes.
The Cyclones’ two guards, Tyrese Hunter and Tre Jackson, contributed 20 and 12 points, respectively.
A stingy Iowa State defense, one of the best in the Big 12 and a key factor in the team’s 12-0 start to the season, held Oklahoma, the Big 12’s second-best shooting team, to 44 percent shooting in the opening half. Meanwhile, the Cyclones were firing away at a 67-percent clip on the offensive end, including a pivotal 7-0 scoring run to close out the first half. Those numbers flipped in the second half.
Oklahoma will now turn its attention to a Red River rivalry matchup at No. 17 Texas on Tuesday.
Three big takeaways from a quality Sooner win:
Offense hit a second gear when it counted the most
Held to 44-percent shooting in the first half, the Sooners unloaded in the second stanza, shooting a red-hot 82 percent from the field (18 of 22). Oklahoma went on a 19-2 run late in the second half to take total control of the game. The Sooners second-half offensive efficiency against a very good Iowa State defense was the key to this Oklahoma win.
Ball movement and basket cuts pick apart Iowa State’s defense in 2nd half
The Sooners were able slice up the Iowa State defense in the second half with excellent ball movement, cuts to the basket and high-percentage finishes close in the paint. OU scored 32 of its 49 second-half points in the paint area. True freshman Sooner point guard Bijan Cortes was credited with five assists coming off the bench in the second half, several during OU’s game-changing 19-2 run to close out the game.
Sooner rebounding, ball security key factors in the win
Coming into this game, head coach Porter Moser emphasized that his team needed to rebound better and limit costly turnovers against an Iowa State defense that was aggressive and opportunistic with a plus-four turnover margin. The Sooners had just 16 total rebounds against Baylor in their last game, but outrebounded Iowa State 26 to 17 on Saturday. Oklahoma committed 12 turnovers, while forcing the same number against the Cyclones. OU had averaged 16 turnovers in the last three games.