Young admitted after the game he was feeling sick. Guess that's better than just running out of the gas.
From 12-1 to 16-7 and 6-5 in Big 12. Much-needed four-day break coming up before heading to Ames on Sat.
***
The narrative for the last month of the Oklahoma basketball season has been hold serve at home and hope to figure out a way to win on the road.
The Sooners haven’t done the second part in 2018, and now the initial part has just become an issue. OU suffered its first loss at Lloyd Noble Center in a 75-73 defeat against No. 19 West Virginia on Monday night.
The setback puts No. 17 OU at 6-5 overall in conference play and 4-6 since its 12-1 start.
Playing its third game in seven nights, the Sooners took too long to get going. Head coach Lon Kruger said it wasn’t fatigue, but the Mountaineers raced out to a 50-40 halftime lead and made 8 of 13 of its 3-point field goal attempts.
The Sooners picked up the intensity and had a chance to send the game into overtime on the final possession of the game. Freshman point guard Trae Young drove toward the baseline and dished it to Rashard Odomes who couldn’t convert a contested layup in the final seconds and time expired.
“We had the timeout ready to call if we needed it,” Kruger said. “We talked before the (WVU) free throws and told Trae if he got the ball in the open court that we wouldn’t call it. He had a good look and we had a couple looks at it.”
Young, who reportedly was battling an illness heading into the game, played quite a bit of the contest off the ball. Odomes and Christian James set up the offense multiple times to try to get Young a breather from the defensive pressure of Jevon Carter and the Mountaineers.
After initially saying he was fine following the game, Young did say he wasn’t feeling 100 percent later in the postgame press conference.
“You gotta play through it,” Young said. “I wasn’t feeling very good, but I’m not going to make any excuses. It’s the nature of basketball. I’m going to go out there and compete and give it my all.”
Young finished with 32 points but only one assist. The trend has been for opposing teams to accept Young’s scoring as long as he doesn’t get his teammates involved. It wasn’t a case of Young playing hero ball or not looking for his teammates, but the Mountaineers were able to shut down OU’s other offensive weapons.
“I think they just tried to stay home on my shooters, on my teammates and make it tough on me,” Young said. “I wasn't able to get a lot of assists because they were there, and they were trying their hardest not to let my teammates get going and get open looks. I think that was their gameplan.”
Freshman Brady Manek finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Khadeem Lattin had six points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Rashard Odomes played a game-high 37 minutes and scored eight points and limiting Carter to 5-of-17 shooting from the field.
OU gets a bit of a breather, not playing again until Saturday afternoon at Iowa State to try to get mentally and physically ready again. The Sooners will be searching for their first road win of 2018, having lost five in a row away from Norman.
From 12-1 to 16-7 and 6-5 in Big 12. Much-needed four-day break coming up before heading to Ames on Sat.
***
The narrative for the last month of the Oklahoma basketball season has been hold serve at home and hope to figure out a way to win on the road.
The Sooners haven’t done the second part in 2018, and now the initial part has just become an issue. OU suffered its first loss at Lloyd Noble Center in a 75-73 defeat against No. 19 West Virginia on Monday night.
The setback puts No. 17 OU at 6-5 overall in conference play and 4-6 since its 12-1 start.
Playing its third game in seven nights, the Sooners took too long to get going. Head coach Lon Kruger said it wasn’t fatigue, but the Mountaineers raced out to a 50-40 halftime lead and made 8 of 13 of its 3-point field goal attempts.
The Sooners picked up the intensity and had a chance to send the game into overtime on the final possession of the game. Freshman point guard Trae Young drove toward the baseline and dished it to Rashard Odomes who couldn’t convert a contested layup in the final seconds and time expired.
“We had the timeout ready to call if we needed it,” Kruger said. “We talked before the (WVU) free throws and told Trae if he got the ball in the open court that we wouldn’t call it. He had a good look and we had a couple looks at it.”
Young, who reportedly was battling an illness heading into the game, played quite a bit of the contest off the ball. Odomes and Christian James set up the offense multiple times to try to get Young a breather from the defensive pressure of Jevon Carter and the Mountaineers.
After initially saying he was fine following the game, Young did say he wasn’t feeling 100 percent later in the postgame press conference.
“You gotta play through it,” Young said. “I wasn’t feeling very good, but I’m not going to make any excuses. It’s the nature of basketball. I’m going to go out there and compete and give it my all.”
Young finished with 32 points but only one assist. The trend has been for opposing teams to accept Young’s scoring as long as he doesn’t get his teammates involved. It wasn’t a case of Young playing hero ball or not looking for his teammates, but the Mountaineers were able to shut down OU’s other offensive weapons.
“I think they just tried to stay home on my shooters, on my teammates and make it tough on me,” Young said. “I wasn't able to get a lot of assists because they were there, and they were trying their hardest not to let my teammates get going and get open looks. I think that was their gameplan.”
Freshman Brady Manek finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Khadeem Lattin had six points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. Rashard Odomes played a game-high 37 minutes and scored eight points and limiting Carter to 5-of-17 shooting from the field.
OU gets a bit of a breather, not playing again until Saturday afternoon at Iowa State to try to get mentally and physically ready again. The Sooners will be searching for their first road win of 2018, having lost five in a row away from Norman.
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