Oklahoma did everything it needed to do in the closing seconds of the Big 12 home opener against Texas Tech. The Sooners had battled their way back from an 8-point deficit with less than three minutes remaining.
Victor Iwuakor grabbed a missed De’Vion Harmon free throw, with four seconds left, and quickly drew a foul against Texas Tech’s Micah Peavy to head to the line himself with Oklahoma down 69-67. After missing the first free throw, Iwuakor intentionally missed the second shot. Coming off the rim, the ball was tipped around three times before it lands in the hands of Austin Reaves who can’t complete the tip in at the rim as the clock expired to a 69-67 loss.
It was a brutal ending to a game in which the Sooners went toe-to-toe with the #15 team in the nation. However, it wasn’t the final play that cost Oklahoma the game, it was missed opportunities at the charity stripe. Uncharacteristically, OU shot just 17-of-27 from the free throw line. Anytime you lose a game by two points and see that you left ten points at the free throw line you can pretty much stop looking for another reason that you lost.
You can, however, ask what in the world happened to Brady Manek? Oklahoma’s star was limited to just two points, after attempting only seven shots, and turned the ball over three times. Most notably, Manek was on the bench during the final stretch when the Sooners were trying to fight their way to a win. Your guess is as good as mine here but on the surface it appears that Texas Tech made him the center of the defensive game plan and totally got in the senior’s head.
Harmon led Oklahoma with 17 points with Reaves coming just behind at 13. Both missed crucial free throws on the night with Reaves going 4-for-6 from the line and Harmon hitting on 5-of-6.
Mo Gibson came off the bench to provide 11 points.
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