The product on the court looked more like an early season nonconference meeting than a postseason tournament matchup Wednesday night when the Oklahoma Sooners took on the Colorado Buffaloes in the first round of the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas.
The Sooners survived and advanced to Saturday's semifinals with a 90-86 overtime win that required a double-digit comeback to get past a depleted Colorado squad.
"We got some stops down the stretch, but we were really rusty offensively," OU head coach Moser said during his postgame interview with FS1. "And we just got in a hole. But to stick with it being down 10, and we've been there before and just knowing that you're gonna win it by getting stops. By getting stops you're gonna win it. ...
"What a hard-fought game, especially when you're rusty."
Rusty Sooners need overtime to get past Colorado in ugly College Basketball Crown matchup
It had been 19 days since the Sooners last took the court in an 82-79 loss to Arkansas in the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament on March 13. It had been even longer for the Buffaloes, though, who lost to Oklahoma State 92-83 on March 10 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. A few days after those losses, both teams were left out of the 68-team NCAA Tournament field to ultimately end up in the College Basketball Crown as Plan B.
That layoff influenced a rust that was never really shaken off in what was a sloppy game that included 71 total free throws that actually helped bolster scoring despite poor shooting. The refs certainly played a role in the game becoming unwatchable, but so did sloppy defense as OU already had Derrion Reid and Kai Rogers in foul trouble at the half.
The Sooners trailed 41-37 at halftime and had to dig themselves out of a hole despite the Buffaloes being without three of their four leading scorers from the regular season and being off even longer. OU shot 36.7% in the first half, while Colorado was at 53.6%.
OU didn't necessarily step up offensively in the second half, but the Buffaloes stalled as their shooting percentage dipped to 24% in the second half and they at one point missed 12 shots in a row to let the Sooners get ahead and ultimately take it to overtime to save embarrassment as the 9.5-point favorites.
The Sooners will play next at 12:30 p.m. CT Saturday with a spot in the championship on the line and rust can longer be an excuse, especially after Colorado had every reason to roll over, but still took OU to overtime.