Oklahoma Sooners stun No. 23 USC Trojans, win Rady Children’s Invitational

Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team knocks off the ranked Trojans to start 6-0.

The Oklahoma Sooners football team wasn’t the only team in action for the Sooners on Friday. The men’s basketball team took on the USC Trojans in the Rady Children’s Invitational final, picking up the 72-70 win to stay undefeated in 2023-2024.

It was one of the best overall performances by the Sooners this season. A big part of their performance was how well they ended up shooting the ball. They shot 50% from the field and were 10 of 22 (45.5%) from three.

They also rebounded well in the game. They outrebounded the Trojans 36-28 and had more offensive rebounds (9-7). Turnovers were where the Sooners struggled, as they turned it over 15 times.

The Sooners took the lead at the 15:06 mark in the 2nd Half. They only lost the lead two other times the rest of the game but were able to regain it fairly quickly. Oklahoma was up 68-62 at the under four-minute timeout, but the offense struggled to close the game.

USC cut it two before Otega Oweh was able to get a driving layup to put the Sooners up four at the two-minute mark. But the Trojans were able to tie it up after two D.J. Rodman free throws with 29 seconds left. Oklahoma came out of a timeout and put the ball in Javian McCollum’s hands. He couldn’t get to the basket, so he had to settle for a tough contested jumper.

It hit the front iron, and Oweh would fly in to tip it in with one second left. The Trojans didn’t have any timeouts, so they were forced to heave it from full court, coming up short.

McCollum was named tournament MVP and finished with 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting. Oweh finished with 16 points on 7-11 shooting. John Hugley IV added 14 points on 4-4 from three off the bench.

The Oklahoma Sooners improved to 6-0 on the season. With wins over Iowa and USC, the Sooners made a pair of statements in San Diego. They return to the Lloyd Noble Center Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. CT to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff. They’ll host Providence on Dec. 5 before facing No. 20 Arkansas in Tulsa at the BOK Center on Dec. 9.

Here’s a look at the best photos from the tournament.