Tag: 2021-2022 Men’s Basketball Season

Oklahoma Sooners advance in Big 12 Tournament with 72-67 win over the No. 3 Baylor Bears

Led by Jacob Groves’ 15 points and 9 rebounds, the Sooners knocked off the No. 3 Bears 72-67 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

The Oklahoma Sooners continued their winning ways to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 72-67 win over the No. 3 team in the country, the Baylor Bears. The Sooners move on to face the winner of the Texas Tech vs. Iowa State quarterfinal game.

Led by Jacob Groves’ 15 points and nine rebounds, Oklahoma was able to overcome a turnover-filled first half that led to a six-point halftime deficit.

After Oklahoma tied the game at 35 with just over 17 minutes to play, the two teams went back and forth for the next five minutes of game action. Jalen Hill’s bucket put the Sooners ahead 48-46 and they never looked back. Though they had to keep battling, OU held the lead for the final 11:51 of the game to move on to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.

Oklahoma was fantastic shooting the ball in the win, shooting 51% from the field and 52.4% from three-point range. Despite 16 turnovers on the game, Oklahoma held the Bears to 13.6% from three, which was the difference in the game.

Including Jacob Groves’ 15, the Sooners had five players in double-figures and had a narrow edge on the boards. Umoja Gibson had 14 points, including a three-point play on a drive to the bucket that put Oklahoma up six points with 49 seconds to play.

Marvin Johnson had 12 points off the bench and Jordan Goldwire and Jalen Hill chipped in 10 apiece for the Sooners who were a bubble team heading into the Big 12 tournament.

The win over the defending national champion is a huge feather in the cap of the Sooners, who will look to keep their winning streak alive on Friday night in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Oklahoma Sooners unable to hold on, fall to No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks 67-64

Despite overcoming a 12-point second-half deficit, the Oklahoma Sooners were unable to pull out the win vs. the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks.

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawks battled to a closely contested contest at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Saturday night.

Coming off of a tough loss in Fort Worth against the TCU Horned Frogs, the Sooners were hoping to bounce back with a win against one of the best teams in the Big 12. The Sooners solved some of the turnover issues that cost them a shot at a win against the Horned Frogs when they had 20 on Saturday.

Against Kansas, the Sooners had just 11 turnovers to the Jayhawks 12. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as the Sooners could not get the final stop to hold onto the victory.

The Sooners and Jayhawks played to a 34-32 lead before the Jayhawks pulled away early in the second half. The Sooners would not be thwarted, battling hard in the second half to get themselves back into the game.

With about 17 minutes left in the second half, the Sooners trailed by 12 points. At 44-32, the Oklahoma Sooners went on a 20-2 run to take a six-point lead with nine minutes left to play in the game.

During the run, Umoja Gibson lost his defender with a beautiful crossover step-back three-pointer to give the Sooners a 47-46 lead.

 

The Sooners lead or were tied with Jayhawks from the 12:42 mark of the second half until the Jayhawks took the lead 60-58 with 1:18 left on the clock.

With 11 seconds left in the game, the Kansas Jayhawks were able to get the game-winning three-pointer from Christian Braun, who had 15 points, four rebounds, and an assist for Kansas.

Oklahoma answered each Jayhawks score in the final minute with one of their own until Braun hit the three to take the lead for good. Jordan Goldwire made two free throws with under 10 seconds to play, but two more free throws from Braun with four seconds left, and a missed three-quarter court attempt from Elijah Harkless was long, and the Sooners lost for the third straight game.

Goldwire led the way for the Oklahoma Sooners with 15 points on 4 of 9 shooting. While not a great shooting night, he was 7 of 9 from the free throw line. Goldwire added four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Umoja Gibson added 11 points on 4 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 5 from three-point range.

Though the Oklahoma Sooners shot 42% from the field, they were just 23% from the three-point line. The offense was helped by their ability to get to the free throw line. They had 19 attempts from the free throw line but only shot 67%.

The Oklahoma Sooners fall to 12-6 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12 conference with the loss. On Saturday, the Sooners have another tough matchup against the No. 6 Baylor Bears. Kansas improves to 15-2 and 4-1 in Big 12 play. Kansas takes their three-game win streak on the road to Manhattan, Kan., to face their in-state rival Kansas State Wildcats.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

Oklahoma Men’s Basketball lose votes in latest USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll

After a rough week in Big 12 play, the Sooners lose ground in their bid to land inside the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.

It was a tough week for the Oklahoma Sooners after they knocked off Iowa State in an upset. It was surprising to not see the Sooners in last week’s Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, but OU Men’s Basketball did not do anything to prove the voters wrong after their big win over the Cyclones.

In last Monday’s Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, the Oklahoma Sooners were on the verge of breaking into the top 25 for the first time this season. They were one of the leading vote-getters on the outside looking in of the top 25.

They dropped the first of their Red River Rivalry battles with Texas by 14 points. Then on Saturday, they lost a second-half lead and were forced to come back from a sizable deficit late to force overtime against the TCU Horned Frogs. With a chance to win at the buzzer, the Sooners couldn’t get a quality look at the basket and Elijah Harkless’ shot fell short.

The Oklahoma Sooners fell to 2-3 in Big 12 play and 12-5 overall. Next up for the Oklahoma Sooners, the No. 7 ranked Kansas Jayhawks who are 3-1 in the Big 12 and 14-2 overall. Kansas has won two in a row after falling to Texas Tech on the road.

A look at the full Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Gonzaga 14-2 787 (23) +1
2 Auburn 16-1 759 (8) +2
3 Arizona 14-1 687 (1) +3
4 Purdue 14-2 647 +1
5 Duke 14-2 643 +3
6 Baylor 15-2 642 -5
7 Kansas 14-2 611 +3
8 Wisconsin 14-2 546 +5
9 UCLA 11-2 530 -6
10 Houston 15-2 491 +1
11 Villanova 13-4 479 +3
12 Kentucky 14-3 419 +5
13 Michigan St 14-3 366 -4
14 Iowa St 14-3 326 +2
15 USC 14-2 322 -8
16 LSU 15-2 300 –4
17 Illinois 13-3 297 +7
18 Ohio St 11-4 263 -3
19 Texas Tech 13-4 261 –
20 Xavier 13-3 252 +1
21 Providence 14-2 227 -1
22 Texas 13-4 103 –
23 Colorado St 13-1 75 +4
24 Loyola-Chicago 13-2 60 +5
25 Tennessee 11-5 52 -2
25 Connecticut 11-4 52 +5

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 Seton Hall; No. 25 Alabama

Others Receiving Votes

Miami-Florida 40; Seton Hall 37; Brigham Young 23; Alabama 21; Davidson 14; Texas A&M 11; San Diego St. 10; Iowa 10; North Carolina 6; Indiana 6; Southern Methodist 5; Oregon 5; West Virginia 4; Texas Christian 4; San Francisco 2; Oklahoma 1; Oakland 1; Murray St. 1; Grand Canyon 1; Boise St. 1

The Oklahoma Sooners have a tough road ahead but have several opportunities to make a name for themselves with highly-ranked teams left on the schedule. Here’s a look at which ranked teams the Sooners still have left on the schedule.