Oklahoma basketball: Third time is Big 12 charm for Sooners who win at Texas Tech in OT
By Chip Rouse
Men’s Oklahoma basketball broke into the Big 12 win column with an overtime road win at Texas Tech on Saturday.
For a while it looked like Oklahoma might blow a double-digit second half-lead and drop a third straight game to open the Big 12 season, but the Sooners withstood a 14-6 run by Texas Tech late in regulation to send the game to overtime before closing it out to win by five in overtime.
The Sooners (10-5, 1-2) led by 13 points with 9:20 remaining in the game, but the Red Raiders slowly chipped away at the OU advantage over the next nine minutes and took a 56-54 lead, their first of the second half, with 23 seconds to go in regulation. Sooner true freshman Milos Uzan sunk a pair of clutch free throws with 14 seconds left to tie the score and send the game to an extra session.
The two teams exchanged two-point leads in the first half of the five-minute overtime. A layup by Jalen Hill with 1:35 to go put the Sooners up 62-60 and they held on from there to win for just the third time in the last 11 games against the Red Raiders.
Oklahoma held a one-point lead, 64-63, with 58 second remaining in overtime after a three-pointer by Texas Tech’s D’Maurion Williams. Hill responded with a layup at the other end to put the Sooners up by three and then sunk a pair of free throws with :01 on the clock to close out the win.
Hill and Uzan both scored 18 points to lead Oklahoma. For Uzan, it was a career high. His previous high game was 15 points in a loss to Arkansas. The Sooners’ season scoring leader, Grant Sherfield, had another rough game offensively, shooting just 4 of 17 from the field and finishing with 11 points. Against Iowa State earlier in the week, Sherfield, who averages over 17 points a game, was held to just four points.
Former Oklahoma Sooner De’Vion Harmon led Texas Tech with a game-high 23 points. Harmon was a starter at OU for two seasons before transferring to Oregon for the 2021-22 season and now is a starter with the Red Raiders.
Next up for the Oklahoma men is a road game at No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday.