Shorthanded Oklahoma close, but unable to upset KU on the road
The shorthanded Oklahoma Sooners put up a fight, but ultimately fell short of their upset bid in Allen Fieldhouse.
Falling to the Kansas Jayhawks 63-59, the Sooners were unable to overcome key absences against the nation’s No. 6 ranked team on Saturday.
About an hour before the game, OU announced duo Brady Manek and Jalen Hill would be unavailable versus the Jayhawks due to COVID-19 protocol.
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said the Sooners didn’t have much time to prepare to face the Jayhawks without Manek and Hill.
“We found out yesterday before practice,” Kruger said after the game. “That was a big blow and obviously disappointing for those two because they love to play.”
Down the pair of key contributors, the Sooners fired out of the gates. Cashing in two steals for easy buckets, OU started the game on a 9-2 run which set the tone for a back and forth first half.
Oklahoma ultimately took a 33-31 lead into halftime on the back of their defense. In the opening 20 minutes, the Sooners forces 10 Jayhawk turnovers, turning them into 14 points on the other end of the floor. OU was also able to limit Kansas to just two offensive rebounds, an area Kruger’s squad has struggled with all year long.
“They battled and laid it out there and did a great job defensively,” Kruger said. “They handled it well. They didn’t hang their head, they didn’t pout about it. They understood that they have to line up and go battle and I though they did that.”
Austin Reaves, De’Vion Harmon and Alondes Williams picked up the slack to lead the Sooners in scoring.
Reaves played nearly every minute of the contest (officially credited for 39 minutes of action) and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists for OU.
Playing the entire game wasn’t originally the plan, but Reaves was willing to do whatever it took to help his shorthanded team, he said.
“It was just the flow of the game,” Reaves said. “Coach starts to leave me in the game for all those minutes and it’s just something that happens during the game.”
KU got off to a bit of a run to start the second half, but the Sooners clawed back into it once again with great defensive effort. At one point in the second half, OU held Kansas without a field goal for over eight minutes.
Victor Iwuakor and Kur Kuath were crisp on their rotations and brought tons of energy the entire second half despite playing through foul trouble for the entire stretch run.
Kruger said he was pleased with how Iwuakor and Kuath played through the foul trouble knowing they didn’t really have any alternatives to play down low without Hill or Manek.
Iwuakor was especially active on the glass, pulling seven rebounds in the losing effort.
“His effort’s always gonna be great, his energy’s great,” Kruger said of Iwuakor. “He and Kur I thought really battled. Really battled.”
The defensive efforts gave Oklahoma the chance to steal their first victory in Allen Fieldhouse since 1993 as Austin Reaves hit a bucket with 2:41 left to put his Sooners up by one.
But Kansas did what Kansas does, responding with a 7-2 run to ice the game, spurred by a huge three from Jayhawk Jalen Wilson with 1:28 to go.
Kruger said the Sooners can learn from their struggles to close out the game down the stretch to improve as the season wears on.
“The disappointment that you feel and not finishing, that’s probably the biggest thing because as much as that feeling hurts, it also motivates you to get better,” Kruger said.
Trying to maintain the high level of defense OU played against the Jayhawks will be the key to winning big games down the back half of the season, Kruger said.
“That’s making progress,” Kruger said. “Every time you raise the bar a little bit for yourself, and I thought we did that today… we got to keep making progress. You know this league is such that, that’s the challenge getting better every week.”
OU will have a few days to recover before hosting the TCU Horned Frogs on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. Oklahoma won the first matchup against the Horned Frogs 82-78 in December.
