Oklahoma basketball: Notable numbers from a team in domino-like decline
By Chip Rouse
The tendency this season of the men’s Oklahoma basketball team to lapse into prolonged scoring droughts compounded by what some coaches like to call ” turnover-itis” are probably the two biggest reasons the Sooners are on a road likely to end up being their worst season in several decades.
The Sooner men lost their seventh consecutive Big 12 game on Saturday, losing by 23 points to the eighth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, and falling below .500 overall (12-13) for the first time this season.
Oklahoma stands 2-10 in conference play with six games remaining in the regular season. The last time the Sooners won three or fewer conference games in a season was over five decades ago when OU finished 3-14 in what was then the Big Eight Conference. Overall, Oklahoma has won just 13 or fewer games in a season just three times since 1962-63.
What’s really troubling is that three of the Sooners’ last five losses have been by more than 20 points.
Oklahoma’s first three Big 12 losses this season were by a combined eight points, and the Sooners lost another game by just two points. That’s four of 10 losses by a total of 10 points. The other six losses in league play have been by a combined 108 points, or a losing margin of 18.0 points a game.
The Sooners led for nearly 13 minutes to open the game against Kansas on Saturday. Over the next 37 minutes, however, the Jayhawks outscored Oklahoma 57-35.
Game. Set. Match!
Notable numbers that tell the story of Saturday’s latest OU disappointment
5 — OU freshman Otega Oweh hit his first career three-pointer in the opening two minutes of the second half to cut Kansas’ 13-point halftime advantage to 5 points at 37-32.
5:20 — Kansas took its first lead in the game (21-20) at the 5:20 mark in the first half and never trailed after that.
6 — Oklahoma got just six points from its bench players.
10 — Kansas’ lead never dropped below 10 points over the final 14 minutes of the game.
20-4 — Kansas ended the first half on a 20-4 run that flipped an 18-15 Oklahoma lead in the Jayhawks’ favor.
23.5 — Oklahoma’s three-point percentage for the game (4 of 17).
24 — The Sooners committed a season-high 24 turnovers in Saturday’s game. The storyline of this game is 24 turnovers and five assists,” said head coach Porter Moser after the game. “Say no more.”
27 — Kansas points scored off of the 24 Oklahoma turnovers.
34 — Oklahoma’s turnover margin was 34 percent, meaning the Sooners committed a turnover one out of every three possessions.
50 — Kansas scored 50 points in the paint, compared to just 28 by the Sooners.