Oklahoma Basketball: Keys for the crucial bubble battle against Texas

Oklahoma Basketball will host the Texas Longhorns in a big game between two Big 12 bubble teams. Here are three keys for the Sooners against Texas.

After absolutely storming through non-conference play, the Oklahoma Sooners have seemingly hit a standstill with just one month left in the season.

They find themselves in eighth place, and while they still look to be in the NCAA Tournament picture as of right now, their status can easily fall down with a loss or two.

The Texas Longhorns, on the flip side, find themselves in a very similar scenario. While they didn’t have nearly as much of an easy time as the Sooners did in non-conference play, Texas too finds itself on the bubble, but is in sixth place in the Big 12 standings.

In their last matchup, Texas pulled off an upset at home against an Oklahoma team that was ranked at the time. A series of loses has dropped Oklahoma from their top-25 ranking, but this game on Saturday still carries a very similar meaning for both teams.

Either team will improve its status on the bubble greatly with a win. While Oklahoma could probably use it less, considering the fact that they are likely safer than Texas, a loss on Saturday would mean a surefire spot on the bubble for the Sooners, and a nervous last month of the season leading up to selection Sunday.

Both teams head into the game pretty evenly matched up on paper. In order for Oklahoma to successfully defend home court, they’ll need to control a couple of elements of the game in particular.

If the Oklahoma Sooners want to pull off a massive win for both their spot in the Big 12 standings and for their status in the NCAA tournament, here are three keys against the Texas Longhorns that they’ll need to achieve.