Washington Earns Big 12 Freshman Honor

Texas@OklahomaJanuary 29, 2022

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.

Read more...

OU Basketball: Frustrating play leads to frustrating loss against TCU, 72-63

January 31, 2022
Syndication: The Montgomery Advertiser
Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

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.

What’s Next?

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.

Read more...

Hot Links: Super Bowl Sooners

Syndication: The Enquirer
Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

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.

  • Staying with the NFL, congrats to former Sooners wide receiver CeeDee Lamb for being named to his first Pro Bowl in just his second season. Lamb led the Dallas Cowboys in receiving with 1,102 yards.
  • Lots of change with Oklahoma Football over the last couple months, but big recruits are still rolling in like 2023 4-star QB Jackson Arnold. Guerin Emig breaks down Arnold’s relationship with new Sooners OC Jeff Lebby and how Lebby is already rolling.
  • Signing Day is Wednesday and while the Sooners haven’t been as active in February over the last few years, Jason Kersey shows us why this year is so different.
  • Parker Thune has a good read about the depth Oklahoma is trying to build under new Head Coach Brent Venables and why locking down the in-state recruits is more of a priority for this staff.

OU Basketball

  • It was a tough weekend for the Oklahoma mens basketball team, as they dropped their fifth game out of the last seven, falling at No. 1 Auburn 86-68. There’s no time to rest, as the Sooners are back in action on Big Monday, looking for redemption against the TCU Horned Frogs. Tip is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
  • The Oklahoma Sooners women’s basketball team continues to roll under first year head coach Jennie Baranczyk as they knocked off No. 9 Texas 65-63 on Saturday, for their third Top-16 victory of the season. The Sooners now sit at 18-3 overall, 7-2 in the Big 12, tied for first with Iowa State and still holding strong at No. 18. Ryan Aber has a good breakdown of the Sooners after blowing out Oklahoma State last week. Next game is a big one at No. 9 Baylor on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Sooners will look for the season sweep of the Bears.

Other OU Sports

Read more...

OU unable to overcome talent gap, falls at No. 1 Auburn, 86-68

January 29, 2022
NCAA Basketball: Oklahoma at Auburn
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

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.

What’s 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.

Read more...