Oklahoma basketball: Three takeaways from game OU let TCU take from them

The men’s Oklahoma basketball team have never lost a game at home to TCU in 14 previous contests. That dominance emphatically ended Monday night.

TCU (15-4, 4-3) may be the surprise team in the Big 12 this season. The Horned Frogs rolled into Norman on Monday riding the momentum of a 77-68 win over 19th ranked LSU in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and they showed no signs of a let up, posting a relatively easy 72-63 win over the slumping Sooners.

Oklahoma has lost six of its last seven games, including a pair of games to TCU, which swept the regular-season series with the Sooners. During that stretch, the Sooners have played four ranked teams.

OU lead in the game for a total of 17 seconds, and that was in the opening minutes of the game. The Sooners fought back to within a single point at several junctures of the game, but never could get over the hump as TCU went on a series of mini scoring runs to widen out its advantage.

For the second-straight game, super senior Jordan Goldwire led Oklahoma in scoring with 13 points. Umoja Gibson had 12 points. Those were the only Sooners in double figures as the team’s leading scorer on the season, Tanner Groves, had another off night, contributing just four points.

TCU’s Damion Baugh led all scorers with 20 points. Six-foot, 11-inch Eddie Lampkin also had a big night for the Horned Frogs, going seven-for-seven from the floor for 14 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Sooners cut the TCU lead to five points with under a minute remaining, but the Horned Frogs made all four of their free throws down the stretch to increase the margin to 9 points at the end.

All in all, it was a disappointing performance for the Sooners, who have played a lot better this season and against better teams.

Three takeaways that tell the story of OU’s disappointing home loss to TCU:

Offensive inconsistency rears its ugly head once again

After taking a quick 5-4 lead in the early going, Oklahoma was outscored 25-13 over the next 11 minutes as TCU opened an 11-point first-half advantage. The Sooners also experienced another untimely cold spell in the second half after pulling to within a point at 43-42. That’s when the Horned Frogs turned up the heat, going 17-4 over the next seven minutes to effectively put the game on ice.

During its recent losing string, Oklahoma has experienced scoring dry spells that has allowed its opponents to take control of the game. Although the Sooners have fought back and made the game close at the end in most of the losses, the scoring gaps they have created for themselves have proved too much to overcome.

TCU dominated the backboards, leading to crippling second-chance points

Oklahoma is one of the worst rebounding teams in the Big 12. Conversely, TCU leads the conference in that department. That differential came into play in a big way on Monday night. TCU collected 42 total rebounds, including 13 off the offensive glass, to just 20 rebounds by the Sooners. There was one sequence in the second half in which the Horned Frogs grabbed three straight offensive rebounds off of missed shots.

You aren’t going to win many games with that kind of rebounding deficit. In the earlier game in January between OU and TCU, the rebounding margin was plus-one in favor of TCU (37-36).

TCU shot a season-high 52.8 percent from the floor

TCU’s shooting percentage in Monday’s road game at OU was a season-best 52.8 percent. At one point in the second half, the Horned Frogs made seven consecutive field-goal attempts. That, coupled with Oklahoma’s inconsistency on the offensive end was the biggest difference in the game.