The Red River Rivalry is always a great time no matter the sport! The Sooners traveled to Austin to take on the Longhorns on Tuesday night looking to build on the big win from Saturday.
Unfortunately Tuesday night wasn’t fun for long as the Longhorns took an early lead over the Sooners and never looked back. Oklahoma came out stout as always on defense, but couldn’t seem to put the ball through the basket on the other end.
The Sooners only made 19 total baskets from the floor and shot 1-13 (7.7%) from beyond the arc. The poor shooting stats go on and on as the team also only made 13-22 (59.1%) from the free throw line. Typically we’ve seen this team heat up from the floor as the game goes on. A slow start on offense is not out of the norm for this Porter Moser squad. However, OU could never get going on offense in this one.
Oklahoma attempted to make a run with under twelve minutes to go, but Texas quickly responded and put out what little fire the Sooners had left. Texas led by as many as many as 20 at one point. If you simply can’t handle the taste of losing to the Horns, OU will get another chance in Norman in about a month.
Back at it Saturday.#BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/Bcfn1MIPlm
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 12, 2022
Defining Moment
Texas had been suffocating the Sooners on defense and left little to no room for them to operate. Looking to put the finishing touches on the first half for the Longhorns Andrew Jones stole the ball and took to the other end for a slam.
the steal and the slam @drewdotcash1 🤘 pic.twitter.com/NKalIdiesV
— #21 Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) January 12, 2022
The Problem Child
Andrew Jones also led all scorers with 22 points. He shot 7-15 from the field and added 3 rebounds and 2 assists to his stat line. He set the tone for Texas on offense and was the key part of the Longhorns handling the Sooners.
Troubles With The Big Man
So much of Oklahoma’s offense revolves around Tanner Groves. In every one of the Sooners losses this season Groves has struggled. Tuesday night he made only one basket and collected a couple of rebounds.
Groves is no doubt the key piece to this offense. That being said, there are a lot of teams in the Big 12 that will play physical basketball in the paint. It’s imperative that Porter Moser finds a way to get an offense going if Groves is having a tough game.
Staying In Texas
Oklahoma will stay in Texas as they face TCU at 3:00 PM CST on Saturday. The Horned Frogs are off to a great start 10-2 start. They will be yet another challenging opponent for the Sooners. There aren’t many “easy matchups” in Big 12 conference play.
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