Oklahoma basketball: Accounting for a long-time-coming Sooner win in Bedlam

It had been 17 days and four straight losses since the last Oklahoma basketball win, but the Sooners finally broke through with a nail-biting 66-62 overtime win over rival Oklahoma State.

For much of the game at OU’s Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday about the only thing that resembled Bedlam, which is the term applied to all Oklahoma-Oklahoma State sports rivalries, was the difficulty both teams had putting the ball in the basket.

It was a game of scoring runs on both sides. Oklahoma opened up a 10-2 lead to start the game. That was followed by a 10-2 run by Oklahoma State to tie the score at 12. The Sooners responded with a 13-0 run of its own to go up 25-12.

Behind a balanced offensive attack in the opening half with three Sooners scoring at least seven points. Oklahoma led by 10, 29-19 after the first 20 minutes. OU maintained a 9- to 12-pointOklahoma advantage for the first 10 minutes of the second half and led by 13 with just under 11 minutes to go.

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After 30 minutes of action, the two teams had only accounted for only 79 combined points.

From that point to the end of regulation Oklahoma State slowly chipped away at the Sooners’ advantage. A three-point shot by OSU’s Rondel Walker, an Oklahoma City kid who was never recruited by the Sooners, brought the Cowboys to within two points.

The Sooners’ Jordan Goldwire missed a three-point shot on the ensuing OU possession, and with 10 seconds remaining Moussa Cisse nailed a jumper at the other end to bring the Cowboys all the way back and send to game to overtime all deadlocked at 54.

Over the final 10 minutes of regulation, the scoring run battle went to Oklahoma State, outscoring the Sooners 21 to 8.

In the overtime session, Oklahoma State went up 62-61 on a layup by Avery Anderson III, but that would be the final point scored by the Cowboys. A free throw by Umoja Gibson brought OU even a 62-all and two more by Tanner Groves gave the Sooners a 64-62 lead.

With 19 seconds to go in overtime, OU’s Marvin Johnson, stole the in-bounds pass and took it the length of the floor for an easy layup that sealed the Sooner victory.

Oklahoma improves to 5-11 in the Big 12 and 15-14 overall. The Sooners will play their final home game of the season (barring a potential NIT appearance) on Tuesday against visiting West Virginia.

Here are some notable numbers that help tell the story of Oklahoma’s win:

2 — Oklahoma State’s biggest lead in the game (56-54), which came 17 seconds into the overtime session.

5 — Five Oklahoma players scored in double figures, led by Tanner Groves with 14 points. Jordan Goldwire and Umoja Gibson each contributed 13 points. In the Sooners last game (against Texas Tech) no OU player reached double figures.

6 — Oklahoma’s rebound advantage over the taller Cowboys (41-35). Eight of the OU rebounds were off the offensive glass.

7 — Oklahoma State went nearly seven minutes in the first half without scoring a point.

8 — Jacob Groves scored 8 of OU’s first 10 points in the first four minutes of the game. He scored 10 in the game before fouling out with 7:28 to go in regulation.

10 — Steals by the Sooner defense, seven of which were in the first half.

14 — Each team scored 14 points off of 16 turnovers.

14 — Oklahoma’s biggest lead in the game (33-19), coming at the 19:03 mark in the second half.

25 — Oklahoma State’s shooting percentage in the first half (6 of 24).

25 — Oklahoma State’s Avery Johnson III scored a game-high 25 points.