Oklahoma Heats Up to Take Down Nebraska
It wasn’t the kind of Big Red battle that college football fans fell in love with decades ago.
But Oklahoma and Nebraska staged an entertaining college basketball game on Thanksgiving Day in which OU shot well from the field and cruised to a 69-56 victory.
In the Sooners’ opening game of the ESPN Events Invitational at Disney World’s State Farm Field House in Kissimmee, FL, OU made 9-of-20 shots from 3-point range and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
The Sooners (4-1) advance to play the winner of Thursday’s late game between Memphis and Seton Hall. That game tips off Friday at 7 p.m. Nebraska (3-2) falls to the loser’s bracket.
OU shot 51 percent from the floor for the game, including 45 percent from 3-point range.
The Sooners shot 53 percent from the field in the first half (7-of-12 from the perimeter) and were powered early by Tanner and Jacob Groves, who scored 12 and 10 before halftime, respectively. It marked the first time this season both Groves brothers scored in double figures in the same game.
OU led by as many as 14 in the first half (37-23) and built a 41-34 lead at intermission despite being out rebounded 18-9.
Tanner Groves, who shot 0-for-10 from 3-point range in the Sooners’ previous game, buried two treys in the first half, then opened the second half with another that gave the Sooners a 44-34 lead. He finished 3-for-3 from the 3-point stripe.
The Sooners continued to make big shots throughout the second half to maintain a comfortable lead.
A Jalen Hill 3 from the right corner extended OU’s lead to 49-38 with 15:59 to play.
Grant Sherfield’s fadeaway beat the shot clock buzzer with 9:57 to go and pushed the Sooners back to a 53-43 lead.
Hill made it a 55-43 lead with his turnaround jump short in the lane at the 7-minute mark, and Tanner Groves drove through the lane for a layup to make it 57-45 with 5:16 left.
Milos Uzan’s driving layup with 5:36 to play pushed it back to a 59-47 lead, and Hill gave the Sooners a 61-49 cushion with another driving layup with 4:33 to go.
Tanner Groves then all but put the game away with another driving layup — this one dressed in a pump fake and reverse to the rim — that gave the Sooners a 63-51 lead with 3:50 left.
Jacob Groves’ one-hand floater beat the shot clock with with 2:08, and Groves’ fast-break layup on a feed from Grant Sherfield made it 67-53.
Tanner Groves was 7-of-8 from the field and led the Sooners with 17 points with three blocked shots and five rebounds. Jacob Groves was 7-of-12 for 16 points with six rebounds.
Sherfield finished with 10 points and eight assists, while Hill scored 13 on 6-of-10 shooting to go with three steals.
Nebraska lost despite a big advantage in fouls (19 to 9), free throws (11-of-19 to 2-of-3) and rebounding (35 to 23).
The other side of the bracket consists of Florida State, Siena, Ole Miss and Stanford. Siena and Ole Miss won their games to advance to Friday’s semifinals.
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