Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma basketball: Tale of two teams headed in polar opposite directions

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma Sooners forward Madi Williams (25) puts up a shot beside Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Katie Ferrell (41) during a women's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Tech at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. Oklahoma won 84-57.Ou Women S Basketball Vs Texas Tech
Oklahoma Sooners forward Madi Williams (25) puts up a shot beside Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Katie Ferrell (41) during a women's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Tech at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. Oklahoma won 84-57.Ou Women S Basketball Vs Texas Tech /
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The gap separating the two Oklahoma basketball teams this season is like the difference between distinction and despair.

The Oklahoma men have dug themselves a whole that has landed them at the bottom of the Big 12, while their lady counterparts are in a much different place, sharing first place with Texas in the Big 12 standings.

The Sooner women have won their last six games. The OU men, meanwhile, have lost eight of their last nine games against conference opponents.

This time next week, the OU women could be in sole possession of the top spot with two games remaining. The Lady Sooners will host their Red River rivals next Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. A win in that game not only will elevate OU to a one-game advantage over the Longhorns in the regular-season title race but also avenge a 20-point road loss to Texas a month earlier.

The Sooners kept pace with their Big 12 co-leaders with an 86-80 win at Kansas over the weekend. Oklahoma’s senior-laden lineup led the way for the win over the Jayhawks. Madi Williams scored 23 points, Ana Llanusa and Taylor Robertson combined for six three-pointers, and Liz Scott added to the cause with a strong game of her own, contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The two teams were deadlocked at 27-all at the end of the first quarter. Kansas charged out of the gate in the second stanza, going on an 8-0 run to open up the Jayhawks’ largest lead of the game at 35-27. The Sooners battled back to take a 50-46 advantage into halftime.

OU opened up an eight-point lead in the third quarter, only to have the Jayhawks rally and cut the margin to one, 69-68, heading to the final quarter. The two teams battled back and forth until about the three-minute mark of the fourth period. That’s when the Sooner defense shut down KU’s offense, holding the Jayhawks scoreless for the remainder of the game. Kansas missed nine straight shots during that disastrous stretch.

As a result of the win over Kansas, Oklahoma moved up two spots, to 13th, in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings.

The Sooners will have the week off to prepare for Texas on Saturday. After that, Oklahoma will play Kansas State at home a week from this Wednesday, then travel to Stillwater and Bedlam against Oklahoma State the following Saturday to close out the regular season.

Key takeaways from the victory over Kansas

  • Kansas only committed seven turnovers in the game, but Oklahoma turned those miscues into 15 points.
  • The Sooners are the national leader in assists per game, and they collected 19 in the Kansas game.
  • Oklahoma got 19 points from its bench; Kansas received no scoring from its reserves.
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