The Oklahoma Sooners found themselves paired against the Oregon Ducks on Sunday afternoon in the PK80. Trailing 16-6 early in the first half, Lon Kruger’s squad responded with a run of their own. Pouring in 11 unanswered points, OU took the lead and maintained the margin until the half.
At the half, Oregon trailed 48-40 while looking to keep the Sooners within striking distance. The effort paid off as the Ducks took their second lead of the game on a Mikyle McIntosh’s deep ball. Up 62-61, things appeared to bounce in the Ducks favor. Yet the lead was short lived as Oklahoma once again regained an eight point lead shortly after.
Refusing to look back, Trae Young knocked down a three point attempt with 4:38 left to play. The shot effectively gave OU their biggest lead of the afternoon at 79-69. Eventually ballooning to a 13-point edge, the Sooners eventually secured a 90-80 win.
Failing to attempt more than a single shot over the first four and a half minutes of play, Trae Young opted to involve teammates in scoring opportunities. Dishing out seven assists, the freshman displayed elite court vision while pushing the pace of play. Through five games, Young has looked like anything but a freshman. That could not have been more evident than when number eleven decided to take over the game in the second half.
After scoring 33 points on Friday, the youngster pushed his career mark out to 43 points on Sunday — 30 of those points came during the final twenty minutes of play. Knocking down 11-of-22 shots and 17-of-18 at the charity stripe, Young made life difficult for Oregon. If it isn’t clear yet, let me state it plainly — Trae Young is the real deal!
The play of the freshman has overshadowed Christian James who has proved the sophomore slump is finally over. As a junior, the guard has scored at least 11 points in each outing. More impressively, James is shooting 42.6% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc. Proving capable of doing a variety of things on the floor, this player remains the x-factor for the Sooners.
Playing in the PK80 has provided plenty of growth for a young team still finding their identity. Oklahoma returns home on November 30th to face UNT.