Oklahoma basketball: Takeaways from gut-punching 56-55 loss to Texas Tech

The Oklahoma basketball men battled and battled and battled but fell oh-so-short of what would have been a monumental win.

The Sooners (18-15) dropped a 56-55 heartbreaker to 14th-ranked Texas Tech (24-8) in a game that most experts believed would have guaranteed Oklahoma a spot in the forthcoming NCAA Tournament had the Sooners won.

Both teams appeared sluggish in the early going of the game, with Texas Tech nursing a four- to six-point lead from most of the first half until the Red Raiders’ Kevin Obanor hit consecutive three-balls to give Tech some separation that eventually grew to 11 points, 37-26, at halftime.

The Sooners’ deficit grew to 14 points in the first three minutes of the second half, and things were looking extremely dire for OU at that point.

After regrouping and crawling back into the game with a 14-0 run over the next seven minutes, OU took an improbable 45-44 lead with just under nine minutes left to play. After the back-and-forth battle down the stretch between the Sooners and the Red Raiders, OU trailed by one with 7.5 seconds left in regulation.

Junior forward Jacob Groves was at the free-throw line for a one-and-one. Groves drained the first, but then back-ended the second. The ball was batted back across half court, and Umoji Gibson had to hurry back to retrieve it. After gathering the loose ball, Gibson immediately drove the basket but never got a shot off, as a Texas Tech defender knocked it loose as time expired.

Here are three takeaways telling the story of OU-Texas Tech semifinal game:

 Back and forth in final 10 minutes

It wasn’t necessarily back and forth scoring in the closing stretch of the second half, but it was great defensive performances by both OU and Texas Tech. Oklahoma was able to slow down Texas Tech for the majority of the second half and made them stagnant. The Red Raiders went scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes in the second stanza.

"“I can’t say enough about this group and how resilient they were,” OU head coach Porter Moser said in his postgame press conference. “The way we played defense in the second half and what we did against their defense trying to move the ball, I can’t say enough about this group’s resiliency.”"

The Sooners outrebounded the taller and longer Red Raiders 36-24 and only allowed three offensive rebounds. It was back-to-back games in which he Sooners outrebounded Baylor, and then Texas Tech Friday night.

Sooners Big 3: Gibson, Hill, Goldwire

Oklahoma had great production out of Umoja Gibson, Jalen Hill, and Jordan Goldwire. Gibson had 16 points, along with four three-pointers. The 6-foot, 1-inch senior hit critical shots for the Sooners and held the Red Raiders guards in check on the defensive end.

Hill did about everything for Oklahoma, whether it was grabbing offensive rebounds or finishing around the rim.

"“I’ve got to thank my teammates and my coaches,” Hill said. “I haven’t shot that well this season. They kept believing in me, and I just take the shots when they’re open.”"

Jordan Goldwire has proven how tough he is, and the competitive side to his gam. As we seen before, the ball is constantly in his hands, as it should be. The senior guard was a finishing machine for Oklahoma, and was an efficient 5-13 from the floor.

It’s up to the NCAA committee

Was the win against No. 3 Baylor, good enough? We wait and see.

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Sooners needed to beat 14the-ranked Texas Tech along with their first round upset over Baylor. The Sooners finished the year with five AP Top-15 wins, tied for the most in the NCAA Division I, which you can argue should be good enough to make it to the Big Dance.

Although, the Sooners didn’t get much help from the other bubble teams. Indiana knocked off No. 16 Illinois to improve the Hoosiers resume. Texas A&M, which was in the “next four out” category, according to Lunardi, upset No. 4 Auburn in the first round. On Friday night, the Virginia Tech Hokies capped off another ACC Tournament win beating North Carolina. The Hokies were among Lunardi’s “first four out” heading into that game.

It won’t be a promising Selection Sunday, but OU head coach Porter Moser has laid out his argument on why the Sooners deserve to be in.