Tag: Oklahoma Basketball

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 80-79 win against Texas in Austin

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 80-79 win over No. 5 Texas in Austin on Tuesday night.

No. 24 Oklahoma came into action against No. 5 Texas on Tuesday night playing their best basketball of the season.

They had won three straight games, including a spectacular home win over top-10 Kansas on Saturday. They now have picked up back-to-back top-10 wins after knocking off the Longhorns in Austin.

Austin Reaves looked more like the player we are used to seeing scoring 23 points to help the Sooners get the huge road victory. The team overall once again showcased their depth with 26 bench points highlighted by Umoja Gibson and Jalen Hill’s stellar play with the second unit and down the stretch.

The win moves Oklahoma to 10-4 on the season with now three top-10 wins under their belt. Here are three takeaways from the game:

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When, where, how to watch Oklahoma basketball take on Texas

Everything you need to know before Oklahoma takes on Texas down in Austin on Tuesday night.

No. 24 Oklahoma (9-4, 5-3) enters their first game of the season as a ranked team when they take on No. 5 Texas (11-2, 5-1) in Austin on Tuesday night.

The Sooners are coming off of their biggest and best win of the season in their defeat of Kansas on Saturday. While the win was quite important for the team’s NCAA Tournament chances, they will still have to find a way to navigate an incredibly difficult stretch of schedule to firm things up further.

The Longhorns have been considered one of the very best teams in the entire country for the bulk of the season, with multiple very nice wins already under their belt. However, after dealing with some COVID-19 issues, this will be the first time they have taken the floor since Jan. 16th. They will also be without head coach Shaka Smart, who announced he would miss the game after testing positive himself on Monday.

For this Red River Showdown matchup, here is everything you need to know:

WHEN:  6:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:  Austin, Texas

HOW TO WATCH:  ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi & Fran Fraschilla)

HOW TO LISTEN:  Sooner Sports Radio Network – KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)

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When, where, how to watch Oklahoma basketball take on Texas

Everything you need to know before Oklahoma takes on Texas down in Austin on Tuesday night.

No. 24 Oklahoma (9-4, 5-3) enters their first game of the season as a ranked team when they take on No. 5 Texas (11-2, 5-1) in Austin on Tuesday night.

The Sooners are coming off of their biggest and best win of the season in their defeat of Kansas on Saturday. While the win was quite important for the team’s NCAA Tournament chances, they will still have to find a way to navigate an incredibly difficult stretch of schedule to firm things up further.

The Longhorns have been considered one of the very best teams in the entire country for the bulk of the season, with multiple very nice wins already under their belt. However, after dealing with some COVID-19 issues, this will be the first time they have taken the floor since Jan. 16th. They will also be without head coach Shaka Smart, who announced he would miss the game after testing positive himself on Monday.

For this Red River Showdown matchup, here is everything you need to know:

WHEN:  6:00 p.m. CT

WHERE:  Austin, Texas

HOW TO WATCH:  ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi & Fran Fraschilla)

HOW TO LISTEN:  Sooner Sports Radio Network – KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)

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Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday after his performance helped the Sooners win twice last week.

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Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless is starting to quickly become a well-known figure of Sooners basketball and around the Big 12 conference.

The Cal State Northridge transfer has been superb as of late since filling in for Brady Manek in the starting lineup, and he was recognized for his play on Monday as he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

Harkless has displayed an ability to affect the game in a wide variety of ways. He is fantastic defender who can crash the boards, pile up assists and provide some scoring when he is needed to do so. Lon Kruger has to be pleased with what he has provided as he has become a real asset to the team this season.

Once Manek was forced out due to COVID-19 protocols, Harkless was inserted into the starting lineup in his place and may be there to stay given his play. With him in the lineup, Oklahoma is 3-1 and have won the turnover battle 63 to 32 while holding their opponents to just 41.1 percent shooting.

Harkless will look to continue his good play when the Sooners head to Austin to battle No. 5 Texas on Tuesday night.

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Oklahoma cracks AP Poll Top 25 for first time this season at No. 24

Oklahoma is into the AP Poll Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 24 after their win over Kansas on Saturday.

For the first time this season, Oklahoma has cracked the AP Poll Top 25 at No. 24 after their big win over Kansas on Saturday.

The Sooners next two opponents, Texas and Alabama, are both placed inside the top-10 at No. 5 and No. 9 respectively. So, this week provides a big opportunity for Oklahoma’s ranking to rise with good performances.

Gonzaga remains the No. 1 team in the country followed closely by the Big 12’s Baylor at No. 2. Villanova and Michigan take up the No. 3 and No. 4 spots.

No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 11 West Virginia and No. 15 Kansas bring the total up to a staggering six teams out of the Big 12 in the rankings, with Oklahoma State also receiving votes.

The Sooners head to Austin to battle the Longhorns Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. CT.

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Oklahoma gets the biggest win of its season in 75-68 takedown of No. 9 Kansas

Oklahoma picked up their biggest win of the season on Saturday with their 75-68 defeat of No. 9 Kansas in Norman.

The Lloyd Noble Center was rocking on Saturday in a way it hasn’t been in quite some time in Oklahoma’s hugely important 75-68 home win over No. 9 Kansas.

The Sooners entered the game playing their best basketball of the season, but were going into quite possibly their most difficult stretch of games they will have on the schedule the entire year. This game was very important, and both the team and fans knew it.

“It was an expected big time battle,” Lon Kruger said after the game. “Both teams fought like crazy. Buckets were kind of hard to come by at times on both ends of the floor but again, just proud of our guys. This is a game that obviously could have gone either way and the guys hung in there.”

After a fast start for the Jayhawks offensively, the Oklahoma defense really stiffened up and got back to the level it had been performing at over the last couple of weeks. That was a large reason for the Sooners being able to outlast a Kansas team that was playing with high-level urgency after dropping their last two games.

“Kansas is good, so it wasn’t easy to score points,” Kruger said. “I thought our guys really battled defensively.”

The Sooners were led once again by De’Vion Harmon who has been simply dynamite on the offensive end in a time where Austin Reaves has been in a bit of a slump and Brady Manek has missed time and is still trying to get his legs under him. Harmon’s 22 points today were absolutely critical.

“No one puts more time in before practice, after practice,” Kruger said on Harmon. “Competes hard, plays hard everyday in practice. So any time a guy is doing that, you want very much for him to have huge success and De’Vion is doing that right now.”

The atmosphere for the game was certainly the strongest it has been for any game this season. The crowd had an energy much closer to that of a packed crowd, perhaps sparked by the high volume of Kansas fans in the building.

“It was a lot louder in there than we thought it was going to be,” De’Vion Harmon said. “Especially due to COVID and it being a morning tip-off. But the atmosphere was good and we just fed off of the energy.”

The win moves Oklahoma to 9-4 on the season and gives some much-needed padding to their NCAA Tournament resume. Going into a tough stretch that features many ranked teams, getting this win felt essential for the Sooners and could be just what they needed to start to get onto a roll.

“You just build on it,” Austin Reaves said. “A win like this, I mean you go into tomorrow and there was a lot of things that wasn’t good and you can really build on that. So yeah, I think that this was a really good win for us to build on and just move forward.”

Oklahoma won’t get the chance to enjoy this one for long, for a trip to Austin to face No. 4 Texas looms up next on Tuesday night.

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Three reasons why Oklahoma pulled off the big 75-68 win over Kansas at home

After almost pulling off the upset in Allen Fieldhouse, Oklahoma avoided the season sweep from the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. 

After almost pulling off the upset in Allen Fieldhouse, Oklahoma avoided the season sweep from the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.

The Sooners undersized lineup handled Kansas’ size once again en route to a 75-68 win that will certainly help its NCAA Tournament resume. Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead before the game hung in the balance for 30 minutes with the Sooners eventually putting the game away.

Oklahoma was able to out rebound the Jayhawks by 10 boards, led by the effort in the second half from two of the newer players on the Sooners’ roster. Kansas had the size advantage with big guards like Marcus Garrett and Jalen Wilson to go along with bigs like David McCormick and Mitch Lightfoot.

One of the Sooners’ promising young players is starting to shine and Oklahoma’s aggressiveness on offense paved the way to the Sooners stymying the tide.

Here are three reasons why Oklahoma was able to take down Kansas.

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 75-68 win against Kansas in Norman

Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 75-68 win over No. 9 Kansas in Norman on Saturday.

Oklahoma picked up their biggest win of the season on Saturday with a 75-68 victory over the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks at the Lloyd Noble Center.

After a slow start, the Sooners once again played with supreme defensive effort and were led by De’Vion Harmon on the offensive end who finished with 22 points. Austin Reaves was instrumental as well to salting the game away late with clutch buckets and free throw shooting.

The importance of the win for Oklahoma really can’t be overstated as they enter another very tough stretch on the schedule. This one was there for the taking and they took advantage.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ signature 2021 win on Saturday afternoon:

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Oklahoma’s newfound defensive identity gets massive test with home matchup against Kansas

Oklahoma’s newfound defensive identity will face it’s toughest test yet against Kansas with Brady Manek back at full speed.

Oklahoma returns to action on their home floor on Saturday when they host No. 9 Kansas at the Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be the second matchup with the Jayhawks in a two-week span after the Sooners fell in a close battle in Lawrence 63-59.

That game was the first one with Elijah Harkless in the starting lineup in place of Brady Manek after he was taken away due to COVID-19 protocols, and really the beginning of Oklahoma’s dominant defensive stretch.

Since that game, the Sooners have played lockdown defense at a clip that has been a night and day difference from what we saw from the team earlier in the season. Now, with Manek expected to be much more back in the fold than he was on Tuesday night against Kansas State, the challenge of keeping that up heightens.

“The big thing for us is that we’ve made progress getting to the ball,” Lon Kruger said this week. “Getting to the shooters, contesting 3-point shots better, being a bit more physical in general.”

The beginning of the season for Oklahoma was a much more fast-paced, high volume 3-point shooting team that tried to outscore their opponent. Now, they aim to clamp up who they face on the defensive end to get out in transition and hope to win that way. The latter seems to be certainly a path to success given the results of the last couple of weeks.

Now with Manek slowly getting back to his normal speed, a Kansas rematch is a big test for the Sooners to keep this up on two fronts given the tough opponent and with him now serving a larger role once again. The team won’t want to lose their rhythm given that they enter this game playing arguably it’s best ball of the season.

“They’re rolling right now,” Manek said this week. “The number of steals, defensive stops, holding teams to low numbers and still scoring on the offensive end. We’re rolling right now and we got a really good team.”

Two weeks ago, Oklahoma nearly pulled off the big road upset win over the Jayhawks largely behind their defensive effort. Finding a way to adjust from the first matchup and replicate that success feels paramount to them trying to finish the deal this time around.

“When you play a team a second time, I think everyone relies more on that first meeting than they do any other opponent that you scout,” Kruger said. “They’ll take a lot away from that game, just like we will.”

The Sooners will host Kansas at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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When, where, how to watch Oklahoma basketball take on Kansas

Everything you need to know for Oklahoma’s matchup with No. 9 Kansas on Saturday in Norman.

Oklahoma (8-4, 4-3) returns to the floor at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday as they host No. 9 Kansas (10-4, 4-3) in a rematch from two weeks ago when the Jayhawks narrowly escaped the Sooners’ upset bid in Lawrence.

Oklahoma comes in playing quite possibly their best basketball of the season after back-to-back blowout home wins over TCU and Kansas State where their defense was simply dominant. The insertion of Elijah Harkless into the starting five in place of Brady Manek has worked swimmingly, but now that Manek is getting closer to full speed it was be very interesting to see how Lon Kruger reintegrates him without messing up the rhythm they have created.

Kansas enters Saturday on a two-game losing streak with road losses against Oklahoma State and Baylor the last couple of times out. Losing three in a row is unheard of for the the blue-blood Jayhawks, so they’ll be coming in with a high sense of urgency to turn things around.

For this quite large Big 12 tilt, here is everything you need to know:

WHEN:  11:00 a.m. CT

WHERE:  Norman, Oklahoma

HOW TO WATCH:  ESPN (Rich Hollenberg & Fran Fraschilla)

HOW TO LISTEN:  Sooner Sports Radio Network – KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Tune In Radio App (Toby Rowland & Kevin Henry)

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