BIG 12 MEN'S BB: Sooners heat up Texas Tech

Sports

February 21, 2013

BIG 12 MEN'S BB: Sooners heat up Texas Tech

JOHN SHINN CNHI News Services The Claremore Daily Progress Thu Feb 21, 2013, 11:13 AM CST

LUBBOCK, Texas — Oklahoma battled rain, sleet, snow and fog Wednesday, and that was before the Sooners even arrived at United Spirit Arena.

The weather, however, turned out to be a much bigger issue than anything on the court as the Sooners rolled to an 86-71 victory over Texas Tech.

The points were the only season-high set by OU (17-8, 8-5 Big 12). Individually statistics were another story.

Steven Pledger backed up his 18-point performance last Saturday at Oklahoma State with a season-high 22 points against the Red Raiders. Whatever wasn’t working earlier in the season seems to have been fixed. Pledger was 6 for 13 from 3-point range.

“Just getting my feet right and my mind set going into every shot,” said Pledger, who is 9 for 16 from beyond the arc in the last two games. “I tend to do a lot of thinking. I’ve had to calm myself down lately and just let it go.”

Romero Osby continued rolling as well with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds. The wild card that was thrown into the mix was Amath M’Baye’s first double-double of the season. The junior powered his way to 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He even had five assists.

“He played great. Sometimes he gets down on himself, but we always try to stay in his ear about keep playing. Because he is talented enough to do that on a nightly basis,” Osby said. “Tonight, he looked like the Amath of old. We were excited to see that and happy for him as well. Down the stretch he could be big for us.”

It was all about offense for the Sooners. They shot 53.3 percent (32 for 60) and used that scoring ability to ward off Texas Tech runs throughout the night.

Sam Grooms came off the bench to score 12 points and register five of OU’s 17 assists.

“Guys really moved the ball well. Guys made the extra pass and they shot it with confidence and made a lot of good plays for one another,” OU coach Lon Kruger said. “Anytime you put up 17 assists — that’s a big number — you like to see that. We got good ball movement. When you make that extra pass, the shooter has real good rhythm and shoots it better. I think that happened a few times tonight.”

Texas Tech guard Josh Gray will was a thorn in OU’s side all night. The freshman scored a game-high 26 points and blew by just about any guard OU put on him. Gray also nabbed four steals. He picked OU guard Isaiah Cousins’ pocket twice in a 14-second span with both steals going for easy layups.

The second steal cut OU’s lead to 68-59 with 9:16 remaining. The Red Raiders (9-15, 2-11) had it down to seven with just inside 7 minutes remaining. OU reignited, closing the game with a 16-8 run. Grooms scored seven of his points during the final run.

“Sam was really good again, and it was great to see,” Kruger said.

The win was OU’s first in Lubbock since 2009 and helped them wash away the sour taste from last Saturday’s overtime loss at No. 14 Oklahoma State.

After it was over, OU once again had to fight the elements. The team left Norman earlier than it expected Wednesday due to the winter weather. Fog shut down Lubbock’s Preston Smith International Airport Wednesday afternoon. The Sooners had to take a bus back home.

At least they had something to feel good about during the overnight trip.

Text Only

Sports

Gasso trusts that Ricketts will find her timing again
Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts was not at her best on Sunday. The defending USA Softball Player of the Year didn’t give up a run in her two and two-thirds innings of work, but she was far from the dominant pitcher who tossed a no-hitter last week.

May 20, 2013
Sooners claim regular season finale with win over K-State
Oklahoma managed to end the regular season on a positive note Sunday. Kolbey Carpenter went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs to help power the Sooners to a 7-3 victory over Kansas State at Tointon Stadium.

May 20, 2013
Chamberlain's curtain call only the beginning
The chant reaching near-deafening levels, Lauren Chamberlain finally realized what she was supposed to do.

Moments after blasting a three-run home run that broke open what had been a close regional final, the sophomore tepidly stepped up out of the dugout and waved to the home crowd, enjoying the first curtain call of her career.

May 20, 2013
OU's dominant victory a shining example of how tough Sooners are in softball
On the first day Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso thought it was better to go with Michelle Gascoigne over Keilani Ricketts against Arkansas’ bats, the Sooners beat the Razorbacks by five runs.

A day later Gasso had the same thought. OU prevailed by 13 runs.

May 20, 2013
Cowboys fall short in Big 12 regular season finale
Oklahoma State University played catch up the entire game of Saturday’s series finale with West Virginia at Allie P. Reynolds, and never could quite get over the hump.
The Cowboys would respond after each Mountaineer score but it wouldn’t be enough as they lost the finale 5-4 on Senior Day.

May 20, 2013
Referees stop Lake Eufaula Classic with South on top
It was an outcome unlike any in the 29 years of the Lake Eufaula Classic, and a bruise different than any player has ever departed with.

Officials, following the second serious skirmish of the game, walked off the field and the game was called, the South leading the North 12-10 at Paul Bell Stadium.

May 20, 2013
Grand Junction Bound: Connors State advances to JUCO World Series
All season long, Connors State coach Perry Keith has said his team was winning a lot of ball games ugly.

On Saturday, the game between the Cowboys and No. 1 Delgado (La.) was anything but as Connors beat the Dolphins 3-1 to capture the South Central district championship and a berth in next week’s NJCAA College World Series.

May 20, 2013
Young Americans waste no time qualifying for Indy 500
Bump Day at Indianapolis followed the script.
No surprises, no drama and no drivers getting bumped.
On a day devoid of tension and rumors, all nine drivers who made attempts on the second and final day of Indianapolis 500 qualifications made it into the 33-car field, led by two young Americans - Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal - who easily had the two fastest cars on the track.

May 20, 2013
NCAA WOMEN'S BB: Texas Tech hires OSU assistant Candi Whitaker
Texas Tech has hired Oklahoma State assistant Candi Whitaker to coach its women's basketball team.
The school announced Monday that the former Lady Raiders player would return to her alma mater as coach. The move comes about a week after Kristy Curry left for Alabama.

May 20, 2013
Pacers, Heat start bracing to square off again
A year ago when Miami and Indiana faced off in the postseason, there were blood-drawing hits, flagrant fouls, technical fouls, choke signs being directed toward LeBron James and more than a few sharp-tongued comments.
Here they possibly go again, at least on the comment front.
The Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Pacers won't begin until Wednesday night, but there's already signs that the animosity present throughout last season's Miami-Indiana second-round series will likely return this time around.

May 20, 2013
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

BIG 12 MEN'S BB: Sooners heat up Texas Tech

Over the past two weeks the price of a gallon of gas has jumped more than 20 cents. As of Wednesday, it cost 3.64. What do you attribute the sudden rise in cost?

Site Map

Contact Us