OU basketball falls short of historic comeback vs. Texas, downed 77-73

You don’t get credit for so close when you’re OU basketball. And honestly? The alarm bells are ready to ring in Norman, if they haven’t already.

But it was such a bizarre contest against Texas that you try to stay positive. In the end, though, an epic comeback fell short. And in the end, though, OU is now 0-4 in SEC play after a 77-73 loss to rival Texas at the Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday evening.

Head coach Porter Moser has never defeated Texas. He’ll get another shot later this season in Austin.

OU trailed 43-27 at halftime, but that didn’t even feel that competitive. Then OU came out with an abysmal start to the second half. To the tune of trailing 51-28. Lloyd Noble emptying out, and a balloon snake being the most interesting thing in Norman.

Somehow, OU turned that 23-point deficit into a 56-53 contest, but then Texas had the answers. OU battled the rest of the way. But ran out of time. And honestly? Some of those guys probably ran out of gas attempting to make the comeback. OU inched closer at 71-68 and and 75-73 with 15.2 seconds left.

But at 71-68, OU failed to get up a shot. Turnover, loose ball/possession arrow. Failing to still make those winning plays.

An emotional night in Norman, but ultimately? Still more questions than answers after the blazing 13-0 start.

“For me… it starts with me. The first 25 minutes — I’m apologetic for the effort for the first 25 minutes,” Moser said. “I thought we had guys off the bench, they came — Dayton Forsythe, Mo Wague, Glenn Taylor, the toughness factor that became contagious. The first 25 minutes of the game — it’s two games in a row we had 18 turnovers. It’s hard in this league. The margin of error, if you’re taking how many more less shots because you’re turning it over. But it starts with me. I want everyone to know I look at myself in the mirror. That first 25 minutes was unacceptable toughness and effort.

“The last 15 minutes, I was so proud of how hard they worked and how hard they competed. But that’s what it’s gotta be, the fabric. I just pulled Jalon outside. I wouldn’t do it any other way. That first 25 minutes was unacceptable competitiveness and there’s no excuse, starting with me.”

Game No. 17 OU Takeaways

*Jalon Moore woke up, and then some. His intensity has been questioned during SEC play, but that’s a second half to remember.

Moore finished with 29 points and eight rebounds.

Moore had just three points at halftime. His career high was 24 points, not anymore. Not only did he score 26 points in the second half, he was a perfect 8-for-8 shooting. He wanted this game, just fell a little short.

*A solid bounce-back outing for Jeremiah Fears. Still a lot going wrong, but he pushed forward. He kept going hard to the rim.

Six turnovers an issue, but he had 20 points and five rebounds.

*The box score will say freshman Dayton Forsythe did next to nothing. It’s one zero after another, but his effort in the second half spurred the comeback.

Period.

“It was the effort. You just saw how hard he played,” Moser said. “Glenn and Mo, they just played hard. They just played really hard. It wasn’t that they had crazy numbers, but it was diving on the floor. It was not accepting a catch. It was blowing up a handoff. It was just intangible toughness plays.

“But I thought Glenn Taylor, Mo and Dayton just came in and had toughness and competitiveness that we have to have.”

Forsythe played 10 minutes with one rebound, one assist but a plus-14. Each time he was subbed out, Moser give him a huge hug. The other OU players finally started to show that same passion and emotion the rest of the way.

*A dreadful night for Duke Miles. Usually so sure with the ball, Miles had six turnovers. His fault? Driving too deep into the lane with nowhere to go and getting stripped.

Up next

It was a battle of 0-3 teams. Now? It’s a battle of 0-4 teams. OU (13-4, 0-4) welcomes South Carolina (10-7, 0-4) to the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday afternoon. The Gamecocks have lost their last two games by the same score, 66-63. The league is simply unforgiving.