Javian McCollum secured his legacy as a Bedlam hero on Saturday with a dagger from the left wing. There’s no way you haven’t seen the shot by now. With the clock about to expire, in overtime, McCollum sent up what some would call a prayer from the corner that found nothing but the bottom of the net. His 3-point shot secured Oklahoma’s sweep of the Bedlam Basketball Series and sent the Cowboys off the court with an 84-82 loss in the final Bedlam game to be played in Stillwater.
McCollum ended the game with 14 points and was one of five different Sooners to score in double figures. Returning from injury, Rivaldo Soares came off the bench to lead Oklahoma with 20 points. Otega Oweh scored 16, Milos Uzan had 14, and Jalon Moore scored 11 as the Sooners picked up their 19th win of the season.
After the battle that we saw in Norman two weeks ago, we expected this to be a tight game throughout and that’s exactly what it was. Oklahoma shook off an eight point deficit at the half to outscore the Pokes 42-34 in the second half, and then 12-10 in the overtime period thanks to McCollum’s heroics.
Yesterday we gave out our keys to victory, so let’s take a look back and see how we did.
1. Score 70 Points Or More
It was a close call but the Sooners improved to 17-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points. It was a higher scoring affair than the first round, in Norman, but the stat holds. If Oklahoma can get to 70 they’re likely to win.
2. Let Jalon Moore Have His Opportunities
Moore was the only Oklahoma player to record double figures in scoring in the first Bedlam game of the season. He got there again on Saturday with 11 points, but he was fifth on the team in scoring this time around. With a 5-of-10 performance from the floor, Moore still shot 50% but was 0-for-1 from deep and just 1-3 from the free throw line.
3. Earn Trips To The Free Throw Line
Notice that I didn’t say convert from the free throw line. This Oklahoma team isn’t particularly great from the charity stripe. They were 7-of-12 (58.3%) which isn’t a great number at all, but they did rack up 16 personal fouls against the Cowboys, and that certainly had an impact on the game flow. McCollum is the player that I specifically mentioned in regards to getting to the stripe. He’s was converting on 93.8% of his free throw attempts coming into Bedlam and while he only got to the line twice on Saturday, he nailed both of them.
What I Missed
Getting to 70 points was huge for the Sooners. That’s been a crucial threshold all season and it continued to be that for them on Saturday. I really expected Moore to be a bigger factor. He certainly wasn’t a disappointment and the revival of a healthy Rivaldo Soares was certainly fun to see. I don’t know what to say about the free throw situation. They’re just not falling for Oklahoma right now. There were some clutch attempts down the stretch that could have easily kept this game from going to overtime.
What’s Next?
Gallagher Iba was a hostile environment on Saturday but just wait until Wednesday. Oklahoma continues its road trip with a visit to Ames, Iowa to take on #6 Iowa State. The Sooners beat the Cyclones 74-63 on January 6th and sweeping that series could lock them in on an NCAA Tournament bid. It’s going to be a tall task, though.
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