University of Oklahoma softball has rescheduled this week’s coaches luncheon for Wednesday, March 2, due to impending weather in Norman.
NORMAN – In her return to the floor, freshman guard Kelbie Washington helped guide the Oklahoma women’s basketball team to back-to-back rivalry wins over Oklahoma State and No. 9 Texas and earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors for her efforts.
OU swept in season series with TCU, drops sixth game in last seven.
The Oklahoma Sooners Men’s Basketball team started off the season red hot, 11-2 with two Top-15 SEC victories, but then the frustrations set in. Since beating Kansas State to open Big 12 play the Sooners have gone 2-6. Yes, five of those losses have been to ranked opponents, four of them ranked No. 7 or higher, but that makes games like Monday night’s that much more important.
OU hosted the TCU Horned Frogs, a team they lost to on the road, in overtime, just a little over two weeks earlier, but this game looked much different than the first time around, and not in favor of the Sooners. OU lost once again, 72-63, but unlike their visit to Fort Worth, the Sooners only lead once about two minutes into the game. Oklahoma cut down on the turnovers that had lead to losing close games, only giving up 6, but The Horned Frogs dominated the glass, grabbing 42 rebounds. Compare that to OU’s 20 rebounds and that’s an almost insurmountable difference. The Horned Frogs used their size, not just in the rebounding, but outscoring the Sooners in the paint, 42-32 and shooting 52.8% from the field.
The Sooners have now lost six of their last seven games and sit at just 13-9 overall, but more importantly, 3-6 in Big 12 play, dropping them to 8th in the conference race. Oklahoma finally seems to have addressed the turnover issue, but in a conference like the Big 12, you can’t get owned on the glass and swept by NCAA Tournament bubble teams, like TCU. There are no easy games on the Sooners’ schedule, but at home against TCU is a borderline must-win contest if OU wants a shot at March Madness. The Sooners are now in a tough spot. If they want to get back to that non-conference level of winning we saw in November and December, they need to commit to playing tough on both ends of the floor consistently.
The Oklahoma Sooners are back in action this Saturday in Stillwater, against Oklahoma State (10-10 overall, 3-5 Big 12) for Bedlam Round 1. Tip is set for 11 a.m. on ESPN 2.
Sooners making noise in college and the pros.
Happy Monday, friends and fans!
It was a productive weekend for some former Oklahoma Sooners, with all four NFL Conference Championship teams rostering former OU players. Ultimately, four OU players (and five if you include Jordan Evans, who is on IR) will be playing in Super Bowl LVI, as the Bengals beat the Chiefs, 27-24 in OT, while the Rams downed the 49ers, 20-17.
Cincinnati has two former OU greats — Joe Mixon & Samaja Perine — in the backfield, with linebacker and Norman native Jordan Evans also on the roster. The Rams boast former OU offensive lineman Bobby Evans & defensive rush Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.
Plenty of #OUDNA in the #SuperBowl this season with 5 #Sooners on the two teams combined
Bengals
Joe Mixon
Samaje Perine
Jordan EvansRams
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Bobby EvansBONUS Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor is a Norman High School Alum
— Ryan King (@Ryan_King_Now) January 31, 2022
#SuperBowl Sooners, 2022 edition.
Congrats @Joe_MainMixon, @samajp32, @jordanevans_50, @OgboOkoronkwo and @BobbyEvans44!#OUDNA pic.twitter.com/YunVrXADbP
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) January 31, 2022
SUPERBOWL‼️‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/lxCWWSR2Gv
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) January 31, 2022
.@_CeeDeeThree is headed to the #ProBowl.
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) January 31, 2022
A column about #Sooners QB commit @_JacksonArnold_, @Coach_Leb and relationships, including the one blooming between Lebby and his new program: https://t.co/Fj0BXf9M3I
— Guerin Emig (@GuerinEmig) January 30, 2022
In the four recruiting cycles since the early signing period began, Oklahoma has only signed six players on the traditional February signing day.
This year will be different.https://t.co/A0xUTuZFY9
— Jason Kersey (@jasonkersey) January 31, 2022
NEW: The #Sooners have flipped three-star WR Gavin Freeman, an Oklahoma legacy, from Texas Tech.
Freeman spurned a scholarship opportunity with the Red Raiders in order to join OU as a preferred walk-on. ⬇️https://t.co/XI3qkSg0Im
— OUInsider (@OU247) January 30, 2022
Final from Auburn. pic.twitter.com/gR4algvO1C
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 29, 2022
Sooners are back at home tomorrow
TCU
Jan. 31
⏰ 8 PM
ESPN2 | https://t.co/IOf19yQkAB
https://t.co/QbD0bFKDX5
https://t.co/3dzHic9NWv pic.twitter.com/zNT6rreEs0— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 30, 2022
The river runs ! #Sooners x #ONE pic.twitter.com/uMKdeEM6DR
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 29, 2022
Three quick takeaways from the #Sooners‘ rout of Cowgirls in Round 1 of Bedlam (via @ryaber) https://t.co/C1HUwRUA1i
— OklahomanSports (@OklahomanSports) January 27, 2022
Closing out January with a win! pic.twitter.com/utyf57Eu9M
— Oklahoma Women’s Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) January 30, 2022
! ! ! pic.twitter.com/kBPv4vlSvj
— Oklahoma Women’s Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) January 31, 2022
#GymU pic.twitter.com/txeHe5f6js
— Oklahoma Men’s Gym (@OU_MGymnastics) January 30, 2022
Sunny Saturday #ChampionshipMindset pic.twitter.com/0D5an1X14u
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) January 29, 2022
, ! #Sooners take down No. 6 Duke, 4-2, in the championship match to qualify for the ITA National Indoors!#OUrFight https://t.co/CnNx76SNVM
— Oklahoma Tennis (@OU_WTennis) January 31, 2022
FINAL | #22 OU 4, #25 Illinois 1
The #Sooners close ITA Kickoff Weekend with a over No. 25 Illinois‼️#WeAreOU pic.twitter.com/jUKFjt3GPM
— Oklahoma Tennis (@OU_MTennis) January 30, 2022
Sooners struggle with Auburn’s rebounding, diverse scoring.
The Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team dropped their sixth game out of the last seven, falling at No. 1 Auburn, 86-68.
The Sooners were outmanned and out-skilled from the get-go, trailing 9-3 less than four minutes into the game, and 12 at halftime, 39-27. There were a few bright spots including an Umoja Gibson layup with just over 12 minutes to go that cut the lead to three, 50-47. OU couldn’t capitalize as the Tigers hit two free throws, stole an inbounds pass and converted a three-point-play from Devon Cambridge to push the lead back out to eight points and it never got within one possession again.
Only three Sooners scorers got to double-digits, as Jordan Goldwire led the way with 19 points. Gibson adding 14, while Tanner Groves netted 13 on just 3-8 shooting from the field.
The Tigers got their main scoring production from projected Top-3 NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith with 23 points and 12 rebounds. 7’1 center Walker Kessler added in 21 points and 9 rebounds, leading to Auburn owning the glass, outrebounding the Sooners 41-29.
This game isn’t exactly a fair one to judge a team like Oklahoma in their first year with a new head coach, but the turnovers were still an issue with the Sooners giving away 14; the Tigers scored 16 off of those OU turnovers. Auburn also just too strong inside, scoring 38 points in the paint compared to the Sooners’ 24.
The hope now is that Oklahoma has weathered the storm and uses the lessons learned from this brutal stretch to put together a strong week with two unranked Big 12 opponents on deck next.
Not much time to dwell on this loss as the Sooners are back in action on Big Monday hosting the TCU Horned Frogs. Tip is schedule for 8 p.m. on ESPN 2.