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OU Basketball: Late Struggles Sink Oklahoma's Upset Bid Over Kansas

The No. 6-ranked Jayhawks outscored No. 25 OU 38-23 in the second half to complete the season sweep over the Sooners on Saturday.
Ryan Chapman|
OU Basketball: Late Struggles Sink Oklahoma's Upset Bid Over Kansas
OU Basketball: Late Struggles Sink Oklahoma's Upset Bid Over Kansas

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Oklahoma Sooners

NORMAN — Down a couple of key bodies, Oklahoma ran out of gas.

The No. 25-ranked Sooners started hot in an effort to down No. 6 Kansas on Saturday.

OU had to overcome the absences of John Hugley IV and Rivaldo Soares, a pair steady pieces for the team off the bench.

But midway through the second half the visitors rallied, with Bill Self's starters equally sharing the load for Kansas to close out a 67-57 victory at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Jayhawks (20-7, 8-5) clinched a regular season sweep over Oklahoma (18-8, 6-7), having already beaten the Sooners in Lawrence last month.

Shorthanded, the Sooners were always going to need everyone else to raise their game a level to topple Kansas.

Soares had been Oklahoma’s most constant performer in conference play, averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 24.8 minutes of action per night since the Big 12 slate began. Hugley was also chipping in 16.4 minutes off the bench, averaging 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in Big 12 play.

"It hurt,” OU coach Porter Moser said after the game. “I’m not gonna say it's an excuse for the game. Those two guys are two of our better defensive (rebounders). We didn't have a defensive rebound from our two fives that played. We had one defensive rebound.

“So it hurt with that. But we had opportunities to win. If we take care of the ball, we rebound, we shoot a little better, we have opportunities to win. I've gotta give them credit.”

In the first half, OU got those contributions from behind the 3-point line.

Oklahoma connected on 7-of-12 attempts from deep, with Javian McCollum, Milos Uzan and Jalon Moore all knocking down a pair and Le’Tre Darthard also hitting the bullseye.

The sharpshooting had the Sooners well positioned to take a comfortable lead into halftime, but Kansas had other ideas.

The Jayhawks clamped down, shutting out the hosts over the final two minutes of the half and staging a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to five at the intermission.

“Talked about in the locker room. We had it at 11 and let that slip to five at halftime,” Moser said. “… I thought we were doing some really great things to get up 11. We were making some shots. We made seven threes in the first half. So, yeah, the end of the first half, we lost our gap right there.”

And the contest stayed tight for the duration.

A missed 3-pointer from Uzan sprayed off the rim, sending Kansas into transition.

The ball found Kevin McCullar Jr., returning from a two-game absence due to an injury, and he buried a long-range attempt of his own to give the Jayhawks their first lead of the second half at 49-47 with 8:45 remaining.

McCullar’s 3 was the third straight bucket made by Kansas, starting a run that would ultimately kill off the game.

The Sooners were unable to get a stop on nine-straight trips down the floor, as the Jayhawks either put points on the board from the floor or the free throw line.

Hunter Dickinson’s miss finally ended the run, as Darthard pulled down the rebound with the Sooners trailing 61-54 with 4:40 remaining in the contest.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, its offense didn’t have the answers in the second half either.

The Sooners combined to shoot 4-of-22 from the field over the final 20 minutes, unable to match the offensive output from the Jayhawks.

“We were 1-for-11 from 3,” Moser said. “Missed a bunch of shots. I think you still can find ways to win when you’re shooting that poorly. It was just night and day.” 

Moore finished as OU’s leading scorer, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. McCollum finally came alive from deep as well, knocking down 3-of-6 long range efforts to add 15 points.

Oklahoma will now enter a much-needed off week, as the Sooners aren’t in action again until next week’s Bedlam bout in Stillwater.

Tip-off between OU and Oklahoma State is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2. 

Published
Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is co-publisher at Sooners On SI and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK. 

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