After nearly a week without game action, Oklahoma returned to action on Wednesday night in the first round of the 2021 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City against Iowa State. It was the third meeting of the year between the Sooners and the Cyclones, with Lon Kruger’s group taking each of the first two in mostly competitive games.
Oklahoma entered the matchup on a four-game losing streak and needing a win as bad as any non-bubble team in the country, and they delivered the performance they were desperate for. Nearly every aspect of the game was much better than what we have seen in recent weeks as the Sooners got back in the win column 79-73.
De’Vion Harmon and Austin Reaves were the two leading scorers as per usual putting up 18 and 21 points in the opening round victory. As a whole, it was really a solid all-around team win.
The win gets Oklahoma up to the 15-win mark at 15-9 and gets them a date with Kansas tomorrow in the quarterfinals. Here are three immediate takeaways from the game:
Balanced Attack
When Oklahoma was at their best this season, it was when they were moving the ball around and getting lots of guys involved. Obviously Austin Reaves is your go-to guy with De’Vion Harmon right behind him, but spreading the love and showcasing their depth is how the Sooners toppled so many good teams earlier this season.
On Wednesday night, they did that really well having eight different guys score – all of which got involved in the first half. None of those guys even scored more than seven points, as it was an overall group effort to get them a halftime advantage.
That mostly continued throughout the rest of the game although Harmon and Reaves did assume their place as the leading scorers by game’s end. As a whole though, the offense was mostly balanced out very nicely.
For the Sooners to keep winning in Kansas City this week and to try and win some NCAA Tournament games next week, this needs to be much closer to what they do offensively. The last few weeks the offense has felt so Reaves-reliant that the ball movement has really suffered. While he is certainly their best player and a fantastic one, it isn’t the best recipe for winning. It needs to be more than just him.