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Sooners Survive in OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s getting to be the same old story for Oklahoma basketball, but it’s a tale they’re not going to mind telling.

Another grind-it-out affair. Another game decided within two points and the final possession. But another victory as OU was able to do just enough to get by Mississippi State 63-62 on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Arena in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

MSU guard Robert Woodard had a chance for the game-winning field goal in the final seconds, but it hit the back of the rim and time expired before the Bulldogs had another chance to put up a shot.

With OU leading 63-62, Austin Reaves missed a shot in the paint. MSU grabbed it with 16 seconds left and without a timeout, leading to the final sequence.

“I thought Jamal (Bieniemy) initially did a really good job against Weatherspoon, from attacking and going downhill,” head coach Lon Kruger said. “And then they had to throw it back out and that gave us a chance to get regrouped and good contest. Woodard's such a good player, I think he probably liked the shot that he got. And it looked good.

“But Doo had a good contest and then obviously the clock ran out before the rebound. Any time in that position, you just want to take away the fast lay-up. You want to try to avoid the three in transition. But again, a lot of times, games are lost there by just a guy getting the ball and going downhill. I thought Jamal's stop of the ball was critical.”

This is OU’s second victory by one point, after having defeated Central Florida by one last month. OU also has a two-point road victory on its resume at North Texas.

OU (13-6, 3-3 Big 12) led for most of the game before the Bulldogs took their first lead at 58-57 with 4:15 left in the game. Reaves and Brady Manek combined for the next six points as OU was able to regain a 63-59 advantage and hold on.

“It was big. They come back,” Kruger said. “They had been battling to stay close and then they take the lead late. I thought our guys responded well. Made a big bucket coming out of the timeout. A good stop defensively. I thought our guys did a good job of battling there.”

It wouldn’t have ended OU’s chances at the NCAA tournament, but it would have been a huge blow to be so close to winning both games this week and to not have been able to pull one out.

OU had a chance to defeat No. 1 Baylor in Waco on Monday evening, but Reaves’ go-ahead 3-pointer went off the rim in the closing seconds. Although Mississippi State isn’t the elite of the elite in the SEC, it gives OU another Power 5 conference victory outside of the Big 12.

“Every game's going to be like that,” Kruger said. “Every game in conference is going to be like that. At-large résumés are important for everyone at this time of year and we beat a good ball club. That ball club is going to win a lot of games in their conference, so I think it's a positive for sure.”

OU has wins against the Big Ten (Minnesota), Pac-12 (Oregon State) and now Mississippi State becomes the second SEC team (Missouri).

Brady Manek led the way with 18 points and six rebounds. Kristian Doolittle had eight points and nine rebounds, while De’Vion Harmon and Austin Reaves each had nine points.

Notes

*As much as OU led throughout, it was pretty hard to fathom with the way Reaves and Doolittle shot from the floor. They combined 7-26 from the field and 1-12 in the second half. So this became the Alondes Williams game.

Coming off the bench, Williams scored a career-high 13 points and provided a huge lift. After MSU had scored the first eight points of the second half to tie it at 38-38, Williams scored the next five points, highlighted by a breakaway dunk.

“I think that was a game changer for us,” Manek said. “I think we were kind of down, we hadn't scored in the half, I don't believe, and they cut it back to a tie game and that was a big play and kind of brought the spirit up of the team.”

*Playing in The Peake, but obviously, the homecourt advantage was there for the Sooners. Included in that was an appearance by Trae Young. The former OU star was back in town and scored 26 points with 16 assists in a 140-111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.

Kruger was happy with the showing, rallied the troops late in the second half.

“I thought it was really good. Crowd was great,” Kruger said. “I thought the numbers were great. Anxious to get back in February when we play Texas Tech and build on this crowd. I thought the crowd was really really good, responded well.”

*OU is now 5-2 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and has won two in a row. The Sooners are back in Big 12 play, visiting Kansas State on Wednesday night. OU is looking for the season sweep, already defeating KSU in Norman in the first conference game.

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