Oklahoma: one last chance to get back on track before the postseason
Returning to the Lloyd Noble Center for the final time in the 2020-21 season, the Oklahoma Sooners desperately need a win.
Dropping consecutive games for the first time since early January, OU (14-8 overall, 9-7 Big 12) enters their matchup with Texas (15-7, 9-6) on a three-game skid.
Even in victories, the Sooners have surrendered second-half leads, having to come from behind to topple West Virginia and Iowa State in the two games prior to the current losing streak.
To change their fortunes, head coach Lon Kruger said the Sooners just have to take better care of the basketball down the stretch, something they were doing earlier in the season.
“It’s not like you have to overhaul anything,” he said. “It’s a matter of, ‘OK let’s focus a little bit harder, let’s be a little more careful with the basketball.’ We don’t have to be a high-risk, high-reward situation, doesn’t have to be a home run. It just needs to be, let’s compete, a couple more passes, get a little bit better shot.”
READ MORE: Oklahoma searching for late game answers to snap losing streak
After playing three games in seven days, Kruger did acknowledge the condensed schedule make things more difficult to correct, but there could also be an upside to the frequency of the final four games. Sharpshooters like Umoja Gibson and Brady Manek have had a chance to find their shot again, especially from deep.
In the two games against Oklahoma State, Gibson shot 6-of-14 from behind the arc, adding a much needed boost to the Sooner offense.
“For me, I just like going back into the gym the next day and putting up those shots and trying to get more comfortable with my shot,” Gibson said. “Confidence is the key part. You know, just staying the course, getting back in a routine, even when you have a down game. You just try not to get too down with yourself.”
Manek also came alive in Stillwater on Monday, putting in his best performance since exiting the lineup due to COVID-19 earlier this season. Shooting the ball well from deep, Manek was a big part of why the Sooners went into halftime with a lead.
The performance puzzled Manek, as he said he really hasn’t done anything differently. Shots just fell for him on Monday.
“I’m just trying to make shots, just trying to make plays,” Manek said. “You just go into games and you’re wide open, missing (shots) and you don’t really know what’s going on. Then you turn around like I did the other night, have a good game and now I definitely don’t know what’s going on, because I mean you go from one extreme to the other.
“Hopefully we can go off this last one and finish strong.”
Though he cooled off in the second half, Manek finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, adding nine rebounds and four assists.
“He had a tough injury in the Baylor game and COVID… it’s hard to bounce back from that,” Gibson said. “I’m real confident in him. In the last game, he got back to being himself and I think we’ll be able to see that from here on.”
Once vying for the 2-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, OU now runs the danger of dropping all the way to seventh in the standings with a loss, which would force the Sooners to play on opening night of the tournament, rather than enjoying a bye.
Not only would a victory over Texas give the Sooners a great chance to finish sixth or higher, the win over their rivals could jumpstart the team headed into the postseason.
“When you got a rivalry-type game, that adds a little bit extra,” Kruger said. “One of them being the last game of the year, kind of a springboard into postseason play in Kansas City, so it’s absolutely a huge game.”
Action gets going from the Lloyd Noble Center at 8 p.m., and the matchup will be broadcast on ESPN.
