Soak it in Sooner Nation. It’s supposed to sting. And, really, regardless of whatever fate Oklahoma gets dealt as it pertains to an NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday, that’s a credit to what this OU team has accomplished in the past several weeks and it’s a statement about what lies in the future under first-year head coach Porter Moser.
Left for dead after a 21-point loss in Ames against Iowa State and a subsequent 24-point loss in Lubbock against Texas Tech three days later, the Sooners remarkably rallied. Even minus one of its best players in senior guard Elijah Harkless who was lost for the season following the Texas game.
That Texas game was the second of back-to-back heartbreaking losses against Kansas, 71-69, in Lawrence and Texas, 80-78, in overtime in Norman. It felt and looked like the dam had finally broken open on OU’s season.
After Oklahoma was thoroughly beaten in Lubbock versus Texas Tech on Feb. 22, the Sooners had lost 11 of their past 13 games and sunk to 14-14 (4-11 Big 12).
The OU team that defended home court against Florida, 74-67, and raced away from Arkansas, 88-66, inside the BOK Center in Tulsa to hand the Hogs their first loss of the season was a distant memory. So was that same Oklahoma team that erased a double-digit deficit in the second half against Iowa State to beat the Cyclones, 79-66. It just wasn’t the same team anymore and maybe that fast start was nothing but a mirage.
Moser told anybody that would listen after OU lost that night in Lubbock that he and this team wouldn’t quit. They would go down swinging.
“We’ve got opportunities. We’ve got Oklahoma State at home, West Virginia at home, we’ve got Kansas State on the road, we’ve got the Big 12 Tournament. It would’ve been a great notch on our belt for the NCAA Tournament, but we’ve got a lot of ball left. Don’t count us out. We’ve got a lot of ball left. Every Big 12 game’s an opportunity. I get it. We’ve got to win some of these. We’ve got to win some of these starting with Saturday, so we’ve got opportunities. We’ve got great opponents. That’s the thing. We’ve got three regular season games and the conference tournament, so we’ve got some ball left. Don’t count us out,” Moser said after OU fell in Lubbock 66-42.
That might have drawn a snicker in some corners, but Moser was right. Oklahoma had plenty of basketball fight left in it. It started with an overtime home win in Bedlam, 66-62, over Oklahoma State. As a precursor for what would come next, Marvin Johnson had 10 points in that contest against the Cowboys. Then, OU followed it up with another home win over West Virginia, 72-59.
Before folks knew it, Oklahoma went and won at a place they hadn’t done so in a decade after they exorcised some of the program’s demons by topping Kansas State in Manhattan, 78-71. Then, of course, OU played arguably its best game in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, stunning No. 4 Baylor, 72-67.
At times in the first half against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals from Kansas City, Mo., it looked like Oklahoma had finally run out of gas. The Red Raiders already led by as many as 13 with 1:43 left in the first half. OU had mustered up just 24 points at that juncture.
Then, this team did what it’s done in each of its final five games before Sunday’s judgment day. They wouldn’t quit. After Tech’s Kevin Obanor made a 3-pointer at the 15:51 mark of the second half to put the Red Raiders in front 43-31, Tech didn’t make another field goal until there was 7:06 remaining. During that stretch, the Sooners also held the Red Raiders scoreless for more than seven minutes. In the meantime, OU scratched and clawed its way to a 47-44 lead.
From there, the game swayed back and forth. Oklahoma had every opportunity to win, but it didn’t. Instead, the Sooners lost 56-55 after a wild scramble off a missed Jacob Groves free throw saw guard Umoja Gibson drive into traffic, lose the handle and get whistled for traveling before he could attempt the game-winning shot.
In the current picture, that one sequence might have determined this Oklahoma team’s fate for the NCAA Tournament. If so, it’s a shame that OU’s finish to the season and particularly its win over Baylor wasn’t enough to merit the Sooners’ inclusion in March Madness.
It’s hard to argue that Oklahoma wouldn’t be dangerous right now and isn’t capable of piecing together an NCAA Tournament run, too. Exactly as he should do, Moser went to bat for his group and certainly made that case for his team.
“This league is like none other. There is no bottom. It’s every night and you’re playing against top, top level teams. And we have competed every night. We’ve won those games. I’ve been in the NCAA Tournament. I’ve advanced in the NCAA Tournament. I know what an NCAA Tournament team looks like,” Moser said.
Ultimately, the tournament selection committee might say Oklahoma’s 18-15 record holds one too many setbacks. Moser wants the committee to focus on his team’s wins and the schedule that it faced.
“Some might say a number of losses, but Kansas twice, Texas Tech twice, you’re competing against that, but we still have top line wins. Arkansas is competing for the top in the SEC, we beat them double figures. We just beat Texas Tech double figures. We just beat Baylor. We have some other really good wins. I know how we can compete against these top teams. When you look at the average net loss of our losses, it’s 31, that’s outrageous, some of these are very high,” Moser said.
Again, in the near picture, all of this matters. It matters for this group that feels they’ve played their way into the big dance. It matters that Marvin Johnson came alive late in the season. It matters that Umoja Gibson went off for 29 points in Manhattan. It matters that Jacob Groves scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help upset Baylor. It matters that Jalen Hill played one of his finest games against Texas Tech. Does it matter enough to get OU in the NCAA Tournament? We’ll see.
In the big picture, the resiliency of this team and what that says about the future is what fans should focus on. If this was the ending on the Sooners’ NCAA Tournament hopes, the ending could have and maybe should have been much uglier than this.
Instead, Moser helped will this team to play above its weight and to arrive right on the doorstep of a tournament bid and perhaps even earning an NCAA Tournament bid. Just when it seemed like Oklahoma might tap out, OU found and played some of its best basketball. And it stung because the Sooners made the games matter again. In the process, Moser and Oklahoma demonstrated that the future is bright in Norman during its stay in Kansas City.
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