Oklahoma Pushes No. 8 Kansas, Falls 71-69 in Allen Fieldhouse
LAWRENCE, KS — Riding high off a mid-week upset of the No. 9-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Oklahoma Sooners again flirted with a huge win.
Porter Moser’s Sooners pushed the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon, leading for over 25 minutes before succumbing to the home team 71-69.
A strong close to the game pushed Kansas across the finish line, handing the Sooners their 20th consecutive loss inside Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
Despite the strong performance, Moser said the team still must improve to get where they want to be by the end of February.
"We played two of the top 10 teams in the country in the last five days," Moser said in a Zoom press conference after the game. "We beat one and we were right there in the best atmosphere in college basketball.
"We can't just be satisfied. We got to be greedy in terms of getting better and chasing this thing. I don't want the bar to be everyone telling our guys it's good to come close."
The loss knocked OU to 14-11 overall and 4-8 in Big 12 play, and pushed Kansas to 20-4 and 9-2.
Jordan Goldwire led the way for the Sooners, scoring a career-high 20 points in the loss, joining forces with Tanner Groves to allow OU to hang tough with the Jayhawks.
Unfortunately for Goldwire, he finished one basket short of what the Sooners needed to win, as he was unable to drain a mid-range jumper as the clock expired to send the game to overtime.
"I thought Jordan Goldwire did so much to help us win," Moser said. "He was exhausted. He played 37 minutes and had one turnover.
"... He was exhausted. Obviously we would have liked to attack the rim and get them in a scramble situation. It came down to one play and he made 30 to help us put us in that position."
Jordan Goldwire
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
Elijah Harkless and Jalen Hill both added double-digit scoring to help keep the Sooners in front through a majority of the first half, but Kansas made the necessary plays to close out the game down the stretch.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jalen Wilson and Zach Clemence with just under eight minutes left sparked a furious KU rally. The Jayhawks went on an 11-0 run to build a 63-57 lead, a lead they didn't relinquish.
"We kind of just stopped moving," Hill said after the game of why the offense stagnated during the scoring drought. "We just gotta find ways to put the ball in the basket and just keep moving, making plays for others."
Poor foul shooting down the stretch from the Jayhawks left the door open for the Sooners late, who battled to the final possession.
Though the Sooners did a much better job taking care of the ball, only surrendering nine turnovers, poor shot selection down the stretch and losing the rebounding battle 32-26 contributed to the loss.
Oklahoma struggled with the Jayhawks’ size as Wilson, Christian Braun and David McCormack combined to score 51 of Kansas’ 71 points on the afternoon.
Groves once again put in a stellar performance against Kansas, adding 19 points for the Sooners on 4-of-11 shooting from deep to finish as OU's second leading scorer.
Tanner Groves
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
"Jordan did a nice job of finding (Groves), Moser said. "I thought he was really confident. He took one off the dribble.
"He missed a couple of good ones early but kept on fighting and bounced back and hit some."
Harkless finished with 12 points and four rebounds and Hill added 10 points and seven rebounds.
But Umoja Gibson was held scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting and fouled out late just one game after he dropped 30 points on Texas Tech.
The Sooners won’t have much time to regroup, as they’ll return home Tuesday to host another ranked foe.
"We have to keep chasing and getting better," Moser said. "That’s what February is about – getting better.
"... Our guys played their tails off to put them in a position to win against one of the top teams in the country and in one of the top atmospheres in the country."
Oklahoma welcome No. 20 Texas to Lloyd Noble Center, with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. The game against the Longhorns will be broadcast on ESPN.
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