The Oklahoma Sooners were nearly perfect in their blowout win over Idaho in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but not quite, and even that slim crack could be wide enough to eventually end the Sooners' season.
The No. 4 seed Sooners seemingly had no issues with No. 13 Idaho in their 89-59 thumping late Friday night at Lloyd Noble Center to set up a second-round matchup with Michigan State on Sunday in Norman, with the winner heading to Sacramento, California, for the Sweet 16. However, there were definitely cons to OU's first-round performance, it was just the pros and 30-point margin completely overshadowed anything that went wrong. But things won't be that easy again.
Sooners struggle at free-throw line in blowout of Idaho
The Sooners' trio of veterans in Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Sahara Williams got their team settled in early to cruise, but as freshman Aaliyah Chavez got acclimated in her NCAA Tournament debut, she missed a pair of free throws that ended an SEC record 62 makes in a row. Chavez went on to create a new streak while making two of her four free throws in the game and still leads all of women's college basketball with a 93.91 free-throw percentage, but even that one poor trip to the line was an omen for the Sooners' night at the stripe.
Oklahoma as a team against Idaho was a measly 56% from the free-throw line while making 14 of 25. That's 11 points the Sooners left off the board even in a blowout.
This was obviously not an issue for the Sooners against Idaho, but this will likely be the only comfortable victory they get in the NCAA Tournament. The margin for error will shrink dramatically every game of March Madness. OU might even be able to leave a few points on the table against Michigan State, but against likely No. 1 South Carolina in the Sweet 16, an extra 11 points could definitely be the difference in moving on to the Elite Eight or a season ending.
After a hopeful win against Michigan State, the Sooners will have almost a week before their Sweet 16 matchup, and those days should be filled with free throws.