Oklahoma basketball: Three takeaways from Sooners’ overtime loss to TCU

On the doorstep of a top-25 ranking earlier in the week, men’s Oklahoma basketball finds itself in the throes of a two-game losing streak.

Oklahoma (12-5, 2-3 Big 12) lost its second-straight Big 12 road game by falling to TCU 59-58 in overtime Saturday afternoon. Before Saturday, the Sooners’ have won eight consecutive outings against the Horned Frogs. It was also just OU’s third road loss at TCU in 15 trips to Ft. Worth.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s Oklahoma-TCU game:

Poor shooting haunts the Sooners’ again

The Sooners shot 40.4 percent from the field and just 22.7 percent from behind the three-point line. Coming int the game, Oklahoma led the Big 12, averaging a shooting percentage of 51 percent through 16 games.

In the last two games, Oklahoma is 6-of-35 from the three-point line. Similar to the game against Texas, the Sooners could never find a rhythm and a player to trust down the stretch. Umoja Gibson hit a pair of clutch three-balls early in the contest, but then had to sit down midway through the opening half with two personal fouls.

Two key parts of the offense, Tanner Groves and Elijah Harkless, were a combined 7 for 23 (30.4 percent) from the field. Groves has been almost silent offensively the last two games. Groves, an Eastern Washington transfer, recorded just nine points combined in back-to-back losses to Texas and TCU.

Harkless has also been struggling shooting from the field the last two games, going 7 of 25 from the field against Texas and TCU.

Porter Moser had this to say after the game on the problems Oklahoma is facing right now:

"“Our decision making and our shot selection: 1A and 1A.”"

Turnovers becoming a troubling pattern

The Sooners finished Saturday afternoon with 20 turnovers against a so-so TCU defense.

Oklahoma has a total of 37 turnovers in their back-to-back Big 12 losses. The most eyeballing subject this season has been the turnovers. We’ve witnessed the Sooners be careless with the ball, and it’s haunted them in Big 12 play.

Jalen Hill, who hit the game-tying layup with 1.4 seconds to go in regulation to send the game to overtime, said this:

"“We just have to make smarter plays. We had a lot of turnovers and a lot of bad shots. At the end of the day, we just have to find ways to get easy buckets for us.”"

The Sooners had a seven-point lead with 15:20 remaining in the second half, but that lead was quickly erased. In the next 11 minutes, the Sooners were 3 of 19 shooting and scored just one basket, which came on a layup by Tanner Groves. The Sooners have had multiple games this season in which they’ve come up empty on the offensive end for extended periods of time.

Sooners lose two straight and now get to go against No. 9 Kansas

Oklahoma’s reward for a two-game Texas road swing that resulted in back-to-back losses is the opportunity to return home and host No. 9-ranked Kansas. That is life this season in the Big 12, considered the strongest basketball league in the country, and it’s not even close.

The Sooners are looking to avoid three straight losses, which is a recipe for disaster in Big 12 play. Although Oklahoma has been accomplishing the main goal in Big 12: Win at home. The Sooners have started out Big 12 play 2-0 at home, with wins over Kansas State and Iowa State. There are  still a lot of Big 12 games to play, but the Sooners have been taking care of business on their home court, where they are 8-1 this season. The lone home loss was by four points to Butler, 66-62, in December.

Tuesday night will be a different task for the Sooners, as they welcome in the #9 ranked Kansas Jayhawks. The Sooners have won two of the last three matchups against Kansas in Norman and hope to add on to it Tuesday night. It will be a difficult task for OU, but as we ‘ve seen in the Big 12 so far, top teams can be beaten at any time.