Oklahoma basketball: Sooners hope to get offense back on track at TCU

Earlier this week, the men’s Oklahoma basketball team suffered its most lopsided loss of the season, falling 66-52 on the road at No. 21 Texas.

The Sooners (12-4, 2-2) are back on the road in Texas this Saturday when they face TCU (11-2, 1-1) in Ft. Worth.

The Horned Frogs have won eight of their last nine games, including a 60-57 victory on the road at Kansas State on Wednesday. Speaking of eight, however, Oklahoma has won the previous eight meetings with TCU.

Oklahoma leads the all-time series with TCU 27-4 and is 12-2 in games played at TCU.

The Sooners shot just 40 percent from the field in the loss to Texas, tying the worst shooting performance of the season. They were also held to 40-percent shooting by Kansas State, but the Sooners won that game. In addition to the poor shooting performance against Texas, Oklahoma did a poor job handling the ball on the offensive end, committing 17 turnovers

Neither of those things can happen if the Sooners are to get back in the win column with a victory at TCU.

Saturday’s game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, beginning at 3 p.m. CT.

What you need to know about Oklahoma and TCU

• Oklahoma ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 73.3 points a game. TCU is right behind the Sooners with a 72.2 scoring average. The two teams are also closely matched in points allowed at 62 points a game.
• Two-year TCU starter Mike Miles leads the Horned Frogs on offense, averaging 17.8 points a game, third best in the Big 12. Tanner Groves leads OU with a 13.5 scoring average, and Umoja Gibson is the Sooners’ outside threat, averaging 12.7 points a game and 38 percent from three-point range, fourth best in the Big 12.
• Gibson is 39 of 41 in free-throw attempts this season, including his last 37 straight.
• TCU is the best rebounding team in the Big 12, averaging 42.7 boards a game and a 12.0 rebounding margin. Rebounding has been an issue for the Sooners this season.
• TCU and OU are the two of the three worst teams in the Big 12 in ball security. Both average 14 turnovers per game.

Prediction

This will be only Oklahoma’s fourth true road game of the season. Except for the lopsided loss at Texas earlier in the week, the Sooners have acquitted themselves well away from home, and historically they have played well at TCU. I would expect OU to play much better than it did at Texas. TCU is also playing well this season, but I believe Oklahoma is a more talented team. The game will be closer than some might expect, but when the buzzer sounds at the end, Oklahoma will have a plus-seven advantage on the scoreboard.