Jacob Groves calls Oklahoma's second half play 'horrible basketball'

Oklahoma was outscored 48-26 in the second half Wednesday night against rival Oklahoma State. The Sooners led by six at the break, but had no answer for the Cowboys in the final 20 minutes.

OU forward Jacob Groves didn’t sugarcoat things in his postgame press conference, speaking bluntly to the media about his teams unsightly performance.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with [Oklahoma State], I think it was just all us,” Groves said postgame. “The team you all saw in the second half is nothing close to what we’ve been all year. A ton of breakdowns mentally, out-physicaled, out-rebounded, out-toughed, everything. I mean it was just horrible basketball on our end.”

Groves posted 10 points on 4-of-8 (2-4 from deep) shooting in 22 minutes on the court for the Sooners. He was one of two Oklahoma players to score in double figures, the other being team team’s leading scorer Grant Sherfield who notched 15 points in the loss.

As for Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament hopes, they’re even worse off now. They now sit at 11-7 overall and seventh in the Big 12 (2-4). Sooners head coach Porter Moser wasn’t pleased with his teams efforts after the game and shared the message he sent to his team after the loss.

“I know it’s going to be the things that everyone talks about, but there’s a lot of games. Every games gonna be (a chance for) a resume win. And we understand that,” said Moser. “That’s what I told our guys. The only thing we have to do is go back, put our heads in the pillow, wake up tomorrow, and you’ve got 48 hours to prepare for Baylor.”

Taking down Baylor is easier said than done. The program isn’t quite as fearsome as it was during its 2021 NCAA National Championship campaign, but coming in at No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 – the Sooners will have their hands full and then some if they want to escape with a victory over the Bears on their home floor.