Tag: Oklahoma Basketball

Oklahoma drops three spots to No. 12 in AP Poll after dropping game last week

Oklahoma dropped three spots in the latest AP Poll to No. 12 after dropping a game to Texas Tech last week.

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Oklahoma’s red hot stretch came to an end last week as the Sooners had their five-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Texas Tech in Lubbock. They then followed that up with a bounce back win over Iowa State, although it was a bit more of a close call than many expected.

The 1-1 week has Oklahoma sitting at 12-5 on the season and down three spots in the latest AP Poll Top 25 at No. 12. Illinois, Texas Tech, Virginia, Missouri and Alabama all hopped over the Sooners after their loss to the Red Raiders, but they remained in front of Texas, Iowa and Tennessee.

Gonzaga and Baylor continue to have a vice grip on the No. 1 and No. 2 spots at the top. The Longhorns continued their tumble down to No. 13 with West Virginia directly behind them at No. 14. Kansas fell out of the rankings, but Oklahoma State hopped in at No. 23 to keep the Big 12 at six total ranked teams.

Full AP Poll Top 25:

1 Gonzaga 18-0
2 Baylor 17-0
3 Michigan 13-1
4 Ohio State 15-4
5 Villanova 12-2
6 Illinois 13-5
7 Texas Tech 14-5
8 Houston 16-2
9 Virginia 13-3
10 Missouri 13-3
11 Alabama 15-5
12 Oklahoma 12-5
13 Texas 11-5
14 West Virginia 13-5
15 Iowa 13-6
16 Tennessee 13-4
17 Florida State 10-3
18 Virginia Tech 14-4
19 Creighton 14-5
20 USC 15-3
21 Wisconsin 14-6
22 Loyola Chicago 17-3
23 Oklahoma State 12-5
24 Purdue 13-7
25 Rutgers 11-6

Schools dropped out:

No. 21 UCLA; No. 22 Florida; No. 23 Kansas; No. 25 Drake

Others receiving votes:

Colorado 41, San Diego State 38, Xavier 37, UCLA 35, Florida 29, Louisville 28, Belmont 25, Kansas 18, Drake 16, Minnesota 12, North Carolina 8, St. John’s 7, Toledo 6, Clemson 6, Arkansas 3, Boise State 3, Saint Louis 2, UAB 1, Virginia Commonwealth 1, BYU 1

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Oklahoma moves up two spots to No. 12 in Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll

Oklahoma jumps up two spots to No. 12 in the latest Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.

Oklahoma basketball had their incredible stretch slow down a bit last week after having their winning streak ended by Texas Tech and had an unexpected close call at home to Iowa State.

The loss and shaky win dropped the Sooners dropped in the AP Poll, but they still managed to climb up two spots to No. 12 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.

Oklahoma is the third-highest ranked Big 12 team in the rankings, behind No. 2 Baylor and the Red Raiders who jumped up to No. 8. With Texas at No. 13, West Virginia at No. 14 and Oklahoma State at No. 22, the Big 12 still has six total teams in the poll despite Kansas falling unranked.

Full Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll:

1 Gonzaga 18-0
2 Baylor 17-0
3 Michigan 13-1
4 Villanova 12-2
5 Ohio State 15-4
6 Illinois 13-5
7 Houston 16-2
8 Texas Tech 14-5
9 Virginia 13-3
10 Missouri 13-3
11 Alabama 15-5
12 Oklahoma 12-5
13 Texas 11-5
14 West Virginia 13-5
15 Tennessee 13-4
16 Iowa 13-6
17 Virginia Tech 14-4
17 Creighton 14-5
19 Florida State 10-3
20 USC 15-3
21 Wisconsin 14-6
22 Oklahoma State 12-5
23 Loyola Chicago 17-3
24 UCLA 13-4
25 Purdue 13-7

Schools dropped out:

No. 22 Kansas; No. 23 Florida; No. 25 Drake

Others receiving votes:

Florida 43; Louisville 38; Rutgers 30; Kansas 30; Drake 23; San Diego St. 18; Colorado 15; Oregon 14; Belmont 13; Minnesota 12; Xavier 10; UAB 6; Utah St. 5; Clemson 5; Louisiana State 4; Winthrop 3; Seton Hall 3; Arkansas 3; Toledo 1; Saint Louis 1.

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Former Oklahoma assistant Lew Hill passes away unexpectedly at 55

Former Oklahoma assistant coach Lew Hill passed away unexpectedly on Sunday at the age of 55.

The college basketball world suffered a tragic loss on Sunday, as former Oklahoma assistant and current UT Rio Grande Valley head coach Lew Hill passed away unexpectedly in his sleep at the age of 55.

After coaching his team’s game against Texas Southern on Saturday night, Hill died on Sunday morning with the news breaking later on in the evening. The official cause of death is unknown at this time, but he had recently battled with COVID-19 and was expected to step aside for the remainder of the season.

Hill has been the head coach at UT Rio Grande Valley since 2016, previously being an assistant under Lon Kruger for the previous five seasons. He was a member of the coaching staff that helped take the Sooners to the Final Four with Buddy Hield and company in the 2015-2016 season.

The outpouring of responses on Twitter tells you really all you need to know about how well Hill was respected and liked by fellow coaches and by the players who played for him. Many former Oklahoma players offered their well wishes.

Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione also offered his condolences when the news broke:

Fellow coaches around the country also provided some words on Hill, including Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton, Texas Tech coach Chris Beard and former Oklahoma and current Houston coach Kelvin Sampson.

 

Oklahoma gets back in win column, avoids home upset in 79-72 win over Iowa State

Oklahoma got back in the win column on Saturday as they avoided the home upset against Iowa State at the Lloyd Noble Center.

It wasn’t the game most were expecting, but fans at the Lloyd Noble Center were treated to yet another tightly-contested battle that went down to the final minutes on Saturday.

“Obviously, hard fought from the start,” Lon Kruger said in postgame. “I thought Iowa State played great.

I think they showed today how tough they are going to be when they are healthy. Coach Prohm does a terrific job and I thought he had his guys ready to battle today and it was a good contest, a good fight.”

Oklahoma came into play on Saturday having just gone through a stretch of schedule that would make any coach shiver. The Sooners faced four straight teams ranked in the top-15 and managed to win three of them before falling to No. 13 Texas Tech on Tuesday night in Lubbock.

The last-place Cyclones looked to provide some rare relief in the arduous Big 12 schedule, but it was far from it. They hit 16 3-pointers on the afternoon and led the game with just over 9 minutes remaining, pushing Oklahoma to the very end.

“We can’t afford that to happen,” Kruger said on allowing so many 3-point shots. “Just (need) a little more urgency getting to 3-pointers. I thought they made a lot of shots that were open but they also made some where we really didn’t mind the coverage. But that’s what good players do. They’ve got a lot of guys that can make shots and they did that today.”

Huge for the Sooners on Saturday was Brady Manek, who had easily his best game since dealing with contracting COVID-19. He only scored nine points, but was phenomenal on the glass with a career-high 15 rebounds while also adding four assists and playing good interior defense.

“He was terrific, absolutely,” Kruger said. “I thought Brady really really battled and worked at it. Offensively, he made some good plays out of the double team, out of the post, he rebounded the ball like crazy all day long. So yeah, really really happy for Brady to see him bounce back and have a game like that.”

Manek has been slowly getting his comfort back after missing time with the virus, and that was on full display on Saturday. He was back in the lineup for the first time playing 32 minutes with a tremendous +/- of +21. Even though the scoring wasn’t as high as he is certainly capable, the argument could be made this belongs among his very best outings of the season.

“This is probably one of the better games I’ve felt coming into,” Manek said. “Played well, just tried to hustle as much as I could.

There for a few weeks I was out, then I came back and wasn’t myself. Wasn’t getting to play much because of what was going on with just shorter breath and all that stuff from the injury and the COVID. It just feels good to be back.”

Someone who was making their return from the COVID-19 protocols on Saturday, although just a case of contact tracing and not a positive test himself like Manek, was Austin Reaves. As both the leading scorer on the team as well as a great facilitator, the Sooners were certainly happy to have him back. He went right back to being an impact player with 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“He’s a big piece to our team,” Manek said of Reaves. “He does well facilitating, getting guys open, sharing the ball. He’s got a good mind for the game. He plays well at his position, he gets off screens, he finds open guys, he does a lot of good things for us.”

After missing two games, Reaves was very happy to be back on the court after having to watch his team play while he felt completely healthy. He didn’t miss a beat on Saturday.

“It felt good to be back for sure,” Reaves said. “It was really frustrating. It was contact tracing, I didn’t have it.

But, I mean, it’s the world we live in right now and you can’t really do anything about it. You just got to really go day by day.”

Unlike Manek, Reaves was able to keep working on his own since he still felt healthy. Which allowed him to slide right back into a big role and play well the first time back out.

“I actually felt better than I thought I would when I came back to practice two days ago,” Reaves said. “A little bit at first the wind was out of me but I kind of got the second wind and really just went from there.

Tonight I felt really good actually, little surprised by that.”

With Wednesday’s game against No. 2 Baylor postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Bears, Oklahoma will have the week off before returning to action next Saturday on the road at No. 17 West Virginia.

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Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 79-72 win against Iowa State in Norman

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 79-72 win over Iowa State on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners returned to the Lloyd Noble Center hosting last-place Iowa State in a game that on paper looked to provide some relief for the Sooners after their arduous stretch of highly-ranked opponents.

That didn’t exactly happen, as the Cyclones gave the Sooners all they wanted and then some hitting 16 3-pointers and very nearly pulling off the road upset. But, Oklahoma stayed composed and was the better team down the stretch to pick up the win.

Several Sooners were key contributors in the win, with Elijah Harkless being the high-scorer with 19 points. Umoja Gibson was right behind him with 18 followed by Austin Reaves with 16.

The win improves Oklahoma to 12-5 on the season before a week-long break before a trip to Morgantown next weekend.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners win:

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Oklahoma’s game against Baylor set for Wednesday postponed

Oklahoma’s home against Baylor set for Wednesday has been postponed after COVID-19 issues with the Bears.

Oklahoma has unfortunately been no stranger to games being postponed this season, and they can now add another one to the list.

The Sooners were set to host No. 2 Baylor on Wednesday evening but that game won’t be played as scheduled. The Bears are dealing with some COVID-19 issues within the program that are forcing them to pause basketball activities.

This is far from the first time this has happened for Oklahoma, as they had to miss the first three games of the regular season back in December with virus problems of their own. Also, the first Bedlam matchup was pushed back after Oklahoma State was hit with positive tests.

In a release, Oklahoma said the two institutions will work with the Big 12 to find a time to reschedule the game. The conference left a week-long gap in the schedule at the beginning of March in between the final scheduled regular-season games and the conference tournament. This game seems destined to land somewhere in that range.

The Sooners will take the floor next at home on Saturday against Iowa State at 11:00 a.m. CT.

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Lon Kruger says “at this point” Austin Reaves is expected to be back for Saturday’s game against Iowa State

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said “at this point” that they expect Austin Reaves to make his return for Saturday’s game against Iowa State.

A big piece of Oklahoma’s team looks to be on the way back.

Lon Kruger met with the media on Thursday and confirmed the belief that Austin Reaves is expected to make his return to the team for Saturday’s game against Iowa State as long as all goes well with testing over the next couple of days.

Reaves has been out due to contact tracing in the COVID-19 protocols and has missed the last two Sooners games against Alabama and Texas Tech. Getting him back will obviously be huge as both the leading scorer on the team but also as one of the leaders.

“We missed him a lot,” Umoja Gibson said on Thursday. “We can’t wait to get him back this Saturday.”

Kruger also said that Alondes Williams would be out again on Saturday as he still recovers from his positive COVID-19 test. If all goes well with him, he could be available for next Wednesday’s game against Baylor, although he will likely be eased back into things.

Since Reaves has been a case of contact tracing rather than testing positive himself, he has been able to do some work on his own and thus won’t need his return to come slowly. He should be able to go right back to his normal minutes according to Kruger.

Oklahoma hosts Iowa State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT at the Lloyd Noble Center.

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Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 57-52 loss against Texas Tech in Lubbock

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 57-52 loss to Texas Tech on Monday night in Lubbock.

No. 9 Oklahoma came into Monday night as one of the hottest teams in the country, but knew they faced another stiff test facing No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock without two starters in Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams.

In a low-scoring, slugfest of a game the Sooners made a late push to pull within three points after falling behind by as much as ten with around three minutes to play. But alas, the Red Raiders had good free throw shooting late to seal the deal.

Umoja Gibson led Oklahoma in scoring with 14 points including some very helpful three-point shooting to help keep them close late in the game. But overall, the offensive firepower was lacking in this one.

The loss drops the Sooners to 11-5 on the season and 6-4 in Big 12 play. Here are three takeaways from the game:

Oklahoma missed austin reaves

Oklahoma managed to overcome the fact they didn’t have Austin Reaves or Alondes Williams on Saturday against Alabama, but they missed them in this game. Especially Reaves.

Reaves is their go-to guy in most games, but he really is when they go on the road into tough environments. They really lacked his leadership and ability to get his own shot dearly in this game.

The first half of the game offensively was dreadful for the Sooners with them only scoring 18 points. His leadership and scoring were sorely missed in this one.

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Oklahoma basketball named NCAA Team of the Week

Fresh off defeating two top-10 teams last week and four overall for the month, Oklahoma was named the NCAA Team of the Week on Monday.

Fresh off of winning their third straight game against a top-10 team, and fourth this month, Oklahoma is starting to gain some serious national attention.

Heaps of praise have come in from all over the country for the job Lon Kruger has done with this year’s bunch. On Monday, the Sooners were named the NCAA Team of the Week after knocking off No. 5 Texas and No. 9 Alabama in back-to-back games.

Oklahoma’s win over the Crimson Tide will likely go in the books as one of the best that any team will pick up all season long. For despite being without two starters in Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams, they managed to knock off one of the hottest teams in college basketball who is yet to even drop a conference game.

The Sooners will look to keep their incredible stretch going when they take on Texas Tech in Lubbock Monday night at 8:00 p.m. CT.

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Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams will both be out against Texas Tech

Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams will miss their second straight game on Monday night due to COVID-19 protocols.

Just as they were on Saturday against Alabama, Oklahoma starters Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams will both be out for the Sooners’ Monday night game against Texas Tech due to COVID-19 protocols.

It is unclear at this time if the players have contracted the virus themselves or if it is a situation of contact tracing that has kept them out now for two consecutive games.

Oklahoma did manage to defeat No. 9 Alabama on Saturday despite the two key players being out, but this may be an even more difficult task to go on the road against a Big 12 foe that they have already fallen to once this season.

The good news for the Sooners here is that they should still be able to have some level of confidence given the win without them already. Not to mention the fact that they have built up a lot of good will with the NCAA Tournament committee with all of the big wins they have already racked up.

In Saturday’s game, Umoja Gibson and Jalen Hill moved into the starting five in Reaves and Williams’ place. That will likely be the option Lon Kruger turns to again on Monday.

Oklahoma is set to face the Red Raiders at 8:00 p.m. CT in Lubbock.

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