Oklahoma basketball: Sooners have Red River split in mind hosting Texas

The Oklahoma basketball men return home for a Tuesday night rematch with Texas riding a giant wave of momentum and the mindset that they can compete with the best in the Big 12.

The Sooners (14-11, 4-8) split their two games last week against No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 8 Kansas, but it easily could have been a sweep. OU defeated Tech by 15 points at home and led at Kansas for most of the game on Saturday before going cold on the offensive end late in the game and ending up losing by two points, 71-69.

Oklahoma missed seven straight shots over an eight-minute stretch late in the second half on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks, playing before a sold-out Allen Fieldhouse turned a 52-57 deficit into a 65-59 advantage.

The Sooners have suffered numerous untimely scoring droughts this season, and on Saturday it clearly cost them the opportunity to record back-to-back wins over top-10 teams.

Now OU turns its attention to a third consecutive ranked opponent in No. 20 Texas.

Texas suffered a similar fate to the Sooners’ last week, and under similar top-10 circumstances. The Longhorns (18-7, 7-5) defeated No. 8 Kansas 79-76 at home but took it on the chin by 17 at No. 10 Baylor on Saturday.

Oklahoma owns a 57-43 advantage in the all-time series with Texas, including a 29-14 record in Norman. The Longhorns, however, have prevailed in three of the last four games played at Lloyd Noble Center.

In the first game this season between the Sooners and the Longhorns, the Texas defense forced 17 OU turnovers and held Oklahoma to a then season-low 52 points in forging a 66-52 win in Austin.

Tuesday’s rematch in Norman will be televised on ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. Rich Hollenberg and Fran Fraschilla will be on the call.

What fans need to know about round two of the 2022 Red River hoops series

• Oklahoma has the statistical edge over Texas in most offensive categories, but the Longhorns are superior to the Sooners in most major defensive categories. Texas leads the Big 12 in scoring defense (56.8 points per game) and are third in field-goal percentage defense (40.9). In the first game between these two teams, the Longhorns held the Sooners to 41 percent shooting, nearly eight points below their season average.
• Oklahoma ranks second in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (48.0) and second in free-throw percentage (75.0).
• Oklahoma was just 1 of 13 from the three-point line in the last matchup with Texas and was out-muscled the entire game. The Sooner have learned from that and are playing much better in recent games.
• All five Texas starters average at least nine points a game, led by Timmy Allen (11.6). Andrew Jones, who averages 10.6 per game doubled his average in the first game with OU, leading all scorers with 22 points.
• A statistical area to keep an eye on in this game is turnovers. Texas leads the Big 12 in turnover ratio (+3.96). Oklahoma, on the other hand, is tied for the next to worst in the Big 12, averaging nearly 15 turnovers per game. In the first game between the two teams, the Longhorns turned 17 Sooner turnovers into 14 points.
• In his last two games OU senior point guard Jordan Goldwire, who averages 9.9 points on the season, has averaged 15.0 points, including a season-high 20-point performance in the OU loss at Kansas. On the other end of the spectrum, however, senior shooting guard Umoja Gibson was held scoreless on Saturday after scoring a Sooner career-high 30 in the win earlier in the week over Texas Tech.
• Texas is 15-1 at home this season, but just 3-6 away from Austin.

Prediction

Oklahoma played well enough to win at Kansas and in the win earlier last week over Texas Tech the Sooners looked as good as they have all season. OU is in a good rhythm and scoring zone in its last two outings, and I look for that to continue against a very good defensive Texas team.

This is a much different Oklahoma team than the one that was dominated in the earlier game against Texas. The Sooners need this win, and they need to play like they want it more than the Longhorns. Oklahoma holds on at the end and wins by +4.