OU basketball squanders opportunity, downed by Texas

Oh, the stage was set for OU basketball. A perfect storm of events to bring about a terrific atmosphere at the Lloyd Noble Center.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in the house. Red River Rival in Texas taking the court. Student section showing up an hour before the game, just waiting for something to cheer about.

But the Horns never gave that raucous group a reason to go crazy. Texas absolutely took over in the final 11 minutes to turn a tight-knit battle into a 75-60 blowout Tuesday evening.

A back and forth showdown through the first 29 minutes, it was Texas 55-54 with exactly 11 minutes left. Two teams who had been absorbing blows from each other and responding.

And then Dylan Disu and Max Abmas delivered their big shots, and the Sooners had zero answers down the stretch.

Six points in the final 11 minutes.

Nothing else to say for head coach Porter Moser except, well, sorry.

“I apologize to Sooner Nation,” Moser said. “I’ve been working to get this crowd like this. They were great. We didn’t win. We’ll bounce back from this.”

Jalon Moore led the way with 15 points and five rebounds. Otega Oweh was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.

Game 19 Takeaways

*You could count on Disu and Abmas, no shock. But Texas outrebounding OU 40-24 was a huge surprise. OU has been so efficient on the boards, especially offensively. The Sooners were the team going one-and-done on this night with just five offensive rebounds.

“They dominated,” Moser said. “I thought Disu, Mitchell, they’re high-level athletes. And they were blocking shots and we didn’t get offensive rebounds. We had five. I thought Rivaldo came in but our starting guys, Sam, Jalen, Otega didn’t have any. John had one in 20 minutes.

“I thought the kid Chendall Weaver gave them a tremendous lift. I thought he had three offsite rebounds, 11 points. His energy level, you could just see his was playing — they were playing for… you could just see the urgency they had.”

*Texas, it appeared, took OU’s will in that final 11 minutes. It was 20-6 on the scoreboard, but it felt a lot worse.

Strangely enough, you could hear Moser say what a lot of people thought. OU, for lack of a better term, looked tired in the second half.

A fantastic crowd, but the Sooners wilted this time around. It was Texas being physical, showing the urgency. And, ultimately, hitting the deflating shots. Abmas and Disu doing the honors time and time again.

“It starts with me,” Moser said. “I put that team out there today, and we thought we were ready, but we looked tired in the second half. I got to give them credit, because I thought they made some crucial, key baskets in like a 7-8 minute stretch, and they got separation.”

Up next

The only good thing, maybe, is you get another big-time chance. No. 11 OU (15-4, 3-3) will get that opportunity Saturday afternoon against No. 20 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 15-3, 4-1, this season and do not play a mid-week game this week.

“This can’t define us,” Moser said. “We’ve gotta grow from struggle. We’re gonna struggle. Grow from it. But you’ve gotta get back and go get on one-game win streaks after this, and that’s the next one. Much-needed day off tomorrow, but we’ve gotta regroup. Texas Tech is on their bye week. We know that. But we’ve gotta get rested and ready for another physical defensive game.”