Bieniemy saves day for Sooners
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger has stressed it multiple times throughout this season that freshman point guard Jamal Bieniemy simply does whatever is necessary.
It’s not usually scoring, and it wasn’t again Saturday. But with potentially OU’s tournament hopes on the line, it was Bieniemy again coming up big.
Bieniemy blocked Matt Coleman’s potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired to preserve the Sooners 69-67 win against visiting Texas on Saturday afternoon.
“I thought our guys handled it well,” Kruger said. “Jamal got to the ball. He slid his feet and did a good job with — was it Coleman? — yeah. He’s so fast and so quick and is such a good player. I thought Jamal battled him and made a big-time block.”
Nobody among the 7,229 in attendance believed it would have to come down to game-saving heroics as the Sooners were firmly in control all game. Early in the second half, OU led 50-33, and it felt like it was going to be a celebratory afternoon.
Former OU quarterback Kyler Murray was back in town and recognized for winning the Heisman Trophy Award. Former OU star Buddy Hield was back in the building with the Sacramento Kings playing the Oklahoma City Thunder later Saturday evening.
It was a star-studded event, but OU couldn’t maintain the energy toward the latter portion of the second half. The Sooners (17-10 overall, 5-9 Big 12) did just enough to keep themselves on the right side of the bubble.
“We have four more, so just continue to work hard,” junior Kristian Doolittle said. “We made it a key, like something we have to do, in order to give ourselves a chance to get in the tournament. After losing the game against Baylor, we were really backs against the wall. Being able to go down to TCU and win that game and win this one, it’s just something to build off as we go into Iowa State.”
OU was able to take a 42-28 lead into halftime as senior Christian James was in a groove with 14 points and five rebounds. James said his shoulder has been bothering him since a loss at West Virginia earlier this month, but he felt like himself vs. the Horns.
James led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes. Doolittle pitched with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Brady Manek had 12 points.
Bieniemy only had two points but filled the stat sheet with eight assists, five rebounds, two steals, two blocks against just one turnover in 33 minutes. The rest of the team only had five assists.
“He’s a great player. He’s a true point guard,” James said. “He definitely always has his head up looking for his teammates. As you can see right here, he had eight assists today. He runs the floor well. One turnover, that’s big.”
After having a week to rest, it’s back to the Saturday-Monday combo again. OU is at Iowa State on Monday evening.