There were times last year where you could rightfully wonder whether then-sophomore Kristian Doolittle was ever going to make a significant difference for the Sooners like he had as a freshman.

Saturday afternoon put those fears to rest, maybe once and for all. Doolittle nailed the game-winning basket with 3.2 seconds left to give OU a 76-74 victory against visiting TCU at Lloyd Noble Center.

The drive-and-make punctuated a 24-point, 10-rebound effort for the junior from Edmond, Okla., and helped OU hold serve at home and move to 13-3 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play.

“Coming out of the timeout, I knew the play that was called for me,” Doolittle said. “It was really just a read because we had Christian (James) in the corner. If I drove and his man helped, it was going to go to Christian. Once I took my first dribble, I realized they weren’t going to help, so I just went from there.”

It seems pretty far-fetched at this point last year to believe head coach Lon Kruger would draw up a play for Doolittle to win the game.

After being suspended for the first semester during the 2017-18 season, Doolittle was all out of sorts as a sophomore. His confidence seemed to be shaken considerably and his impact on the game had almost disappeared.

Heading into the season, Doolittle was determined to rewrite his story with the Sooners. And during the last stretch of games, he’s starting to show exactly what that means.

“He made big plays down the stretch,” James said. “We definitely needed to get him the ball. He had it going, 9 for 12 from the field, that's outstanding. He made great plays. Doo's been capable of this from the beginning. With Jamuni being out, we kind of had to sacrifice with him being at the five. But yea, not surprised with what he did tonight.”

It took a change in OU’s team attitude to give Doolittle a chance to play hero. The Sooners trailed 43-37 at halftime and were being outrebounded 30-14.

OU flipped the script a bit, outrebounding TCU 22-12 in the second half.

“Mostly just our guys' commitment to it,” said Kruger about the difference. “They've been a very good rebounding team on the year, coming off a Texas Tech game where we gave up three offensive boards in the game. And they had 12 or 14 in the first half today. We just had to recommit and do a better job as a group of five rebounding the ball.”

James had 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Brady Manek pitched in with 12 points and a career-high four blocks, while Aaron Calixte had 12 points and four assists.

Jamuni McNeace, starting his first game in more than a month after battling an ankle injury, finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.

The Sooners host Kansas State on Wednesday evening. The Wildcats are coming off a strong week, earning wins vs. West Virginia and upsetting Iowa State in Ames on Saturday afternoon.