It looked early in the second half like No. 11 Iowa State was going to keep Oklahoma at arm’s length. The Cyclones led 47-36 with 17:11 to play and then 53-43 with 14:13 remaining.
And Iowa State’s Izaiah Brockington and Tyrese Hunter couldn’t miss. That’s when OU locked in defensively and flipped the script, winning 79-66. Here’s a look at three things that stood out.
Umoja Gibson and Tanner Groves delivered
Senior guard Umoja Gibson scored 20 points and senior forward Tanner Groves added 16 points. Gibson showcased his offensive game is expanding, too.
“I thought Mo had a really nice second half. Made some shots. He shot-faked and hit that little pull-up in our run, got one to the rim in our run. He did some different things. He didn’t just launch if they were flying. He did a couple things off the dribble. Mo’s game off the dribble is really starting to be a factor for us,” Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser said.
Bijan Cortes and Jacob Groves offered big contributions off the bench
Freshman guard Bijan Cortes and junior forward Jacob Groves played arguably the best games of their respective seasons. Off the bench, Cortes added five assists, four points and three rebounds in 17 minutes and Groves delivered nine points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.
“Jacob Groves came in and he’s such a big target and he’s a very good cutter and Bijan found him a number of times. I thought he gave us a good lift off the bench. I’ve been talking about the bench. You know, you’ve got Bijan, C.J. Noland gave you four points, Jacob gave you nine and then Bijan gave you the five assists and four points. So, our bench was crucial. We’ve been talking about that in Big 12. You’ve got to develop that bench. Those guys are really starting to come on,” Moser said.
Oklahoma bounced back from the Baylor loss and defended home court
This is really the most important thing for Oklahoma. After losing at No. 1 Baylor earlier in the week 84-74, the Sooners showed once again that they are resilient.
Oklahoma is now 3-0 following losses this season. With the win, OU is 12-3 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play.
“I don’t really think about holding serve. It’s not in my [thought process]. I was just thinking about what do we have to do to Iowa State this game. Now that it’s over, hell yeah I’m glad we held serve,” Moser said.
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