Despite Kansas not having their best player coming into the game, Oklahoma Basketball was unable to pull off the upset at home.
Oklahoma Basketball has beaten Kansas at home the previous two years along with six of their last nine home matchups against top 10 teams, as they saw a prime opportunity to make their two-game streak extend to three with Devon Dotson, arguably Kansas’s best player out last night with a hip injury he suffered in the Baylor loss.
Oklahoma just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, as the Sooners big-3 of Kristian Doolittle, Brady Manek, & Austin Reaves shot just 5-22 combined in the first half, and still found themselves only down by one at the end of the half by the score of 28-27.
The second half wasn’t much different, as the Sooners went on to score just 25 second-half points, allowing the Jayhawks to score 38 second-half points, as they lost by the score of 66-52. The Sooners shot just 30 percent (19-62) from the field.
Kristian Doolittle had 13 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, along with a steal and a block, but was an inefficient 5-18 from the field.
Freshman guard De’Vion Harmon scored 13 points as well, along with two steals, while shooting 5-11 from the field, including 3 three-pointers.
Brady Manek chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks on 4-18 shooting.
Austin Reaves shot just 1-9 from the field for only 4 points, in what was easily his worst performance of the season.
My quick thoughts on the game:
Isiah Moss, the grad transfer from Iowa got the start to replace the injured Dotson, and scored 20 points for his first start as a Jayhawk, including 6-11 from the three-point line. The hardest guy to guard and stop, however, was Udoka Azubuike, as he scored 16 points, to go along with 14 rebounds, a steal and three blocks. His size was a big problem for the team, as was his rebounding prowess.
The Sooners did a good job of limiting turnovers, as they only had 5 compared to Kansas’s 11, but the Sooners got destroyed on the boards yet again, as they got beat in that department 32-46.
Not shooting the ball well at all, along with rebounding were the two main reasons OU lost at home on Tuesday. They limit turnovers and win the turnover margin, but since the start of Big-12 play, the Sooners have won the rebound battle just once out of four games, and never won the offensive rebound battle. Teams are just getting the possessions back on the Sooners with their clear rebounding advantage.
The Sooners play the TCU horned frogs Saturday, the 18th. TCU averages 36.9 rebounds per game, with the Sooners snagging 37.2 a game. It’ll be interesting to see who wins the rebounding battle, as Oklahoma looks to get out of it’s losing skid.