Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma basketball: Sooner men surprisingly go down in season opener

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Jalen Hill (1) puts up a shot as OCU's Brandon Jackson (23) defends during a college basketball exhibition game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma City University Starts (OCU) at Loyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.Ou Men S Basketball
Oklahoma's Jalen Hill (1) puts up a shot as OCU's Brandon Jackson (23) defends during a college basketball exhibition game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma City University Starts (OCU) at Loyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.Ou Men S Basketball /
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The men’s Oklahoma basketball team shot themselves in the foot with poor shooting and too many turnovers, which led to a stunning season-opening defeat to Sam Houston State on Monday night.

OU led by as many as 14 points in the second half but couldn’t hold on as Sam Houston’s Lamar Wilkerson drained a three-point shot from deep in the corner over the outstretched arm of Jacob Groves with just a couple seconds remaining in the game to seize victory from the jaws of defeat and a 52-51 victory over the host Sooners.

Wilkerson ended with a game-high 17 points. Leading Oklahoma in the scoring column was Nevada transfer Grant Sherfield with 14 points. Tanner Groves and brother Jacob added 11 points each.

Oklahoma was a 16.5-point favorite over the Bearkats out of the Western Athletic Conference, but led by just seven, 26-19 at the half.

OU slowly pulled away early in the second half but was unable to put Sam Houston away as the Bearkats mounted a late rally, outscoring the Sooners 18-5 over the final five minutes to pull off the upset. The Sooners scored just eight points in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Sooners led for 37 minutes of the game but couldn’t get it done when it counted the most, squandering a 13-point lead over the final five minutes.

The last time the Oklahoma men lost a season opener was in 2002 to 8th-ranked Alabama. The Sooners were No. 3 in the country to start that season but lost 68-62 to the Crimson Tide.

All 10 Big 12 schools were in action Monday night. Oklahoma was the only conference team not to record a season-opening win.

What’s even more scary looking ahead, the Sooners next opponent, Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday night, lost by just a single point to 14th-ranked TCU on Monday night.

Here are three prime takeaways from the Sooners’ 2022-23 season opener:

Oklahoma struggled getting shots/points to drop

The Sooners shot 48 percent last season, third best in the Big 12, but they also lost two of their leading scorers in Elijah Harkless and Umoja Gibson. On Monday night at home against Sam Houston, OU struggled to get shots to drop, shooting 37.2 for the game on 16 of 43 field-goal attempts. This isn’t going to win many games in any season, and the shooting was even worse at the most critical point in the game: in the final five minutes.

Turnovers were a problem all last season and were again against SHU

A year ago, Oklahoma committed an average of 14 turnovers per game, second worst in the Big 12. On Monday night in the season opener that number jumped to 21, and that led to 11 points for Sam Houston. The Sooners were clearly bothered by the Bearkats’ full-court pressure, but Porter Moser and Co. are going to have get that worked out because the Sooners are probably going to see a lot more of it as the season wears on.

Sam Houston’s second-chance points were a big difference in game

Oklahoma won the rebounding battle 40-34, but the Sooners were outmuscled on the offensive glass with Sam Houston owning an 11-5 advantage that led to 10 second-chance points for the Bearkats. With OU losing the game by a single point, the SHU advantage on the offensive boards proved to be a big difference.

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