OSU, not OU, should be committee favorite
Maybe it was when OSU grabbed five offensive rebounds in 21 seconds and took the lead for good on Mitchell Solomon’s tip-in midway through the first half.
Maybe it was when the Crime Dog, Cameron McGriff, averaging 8.4 points a game, scored eight points in 59 seconds to blow open the game early in the second half.
Maybe it was when Solomon blew up a Trae Young lob pass on a 2-on-1 fast break that seemed destined to get the beleaguered Sooners within a basket midway through the second half.
But sometime Wednesday night in the Sprint Center, all doubt was removed. The wrong team is on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The fast-rising Cowboys beat the free-falling Sooners 71-60 in the Big 12 Tournament’s first round. Before tipoff, it seemed fairly clear that
OSU was the better team. After the final gun, not even the NCAA selection committee’s world of quadrants and metrics could cloud the issue.
The Cowboys are a load. The Sooners are Dead Team Walking.
“We got a good team,” said State coach Mike Boynton. “For all that this team’s been through, those kids found a way to be pretty competitive in the hardest league in the country and are in position to be considered for the tournament. That’s pretty cool.”
All kinds of things could still happen to shuffle the deck chairs. But OSU’s fourth win in five games — three of which are what the committee considers the highest-quality of victories — puts the 19-13 Cowboys on the verge of inclusion in the 68-team NCAAs. OSU can end the debate Thursday with a third victory over Kansas.
“We didn’t come here just to beat Kansas or just to beat OU,” said OSU’s Lindy Waters III. “We came here to win the Big 12 championship.”
That’s a tall order. Win four games in four days, all against teams surely bound for the NCAA Tournament. But that’s not as tall an order as what OU faced.
The Sooners came to Kansas City to restart a season that derailed with 11 losses in their last 14 games. Didn’t happen.
OU was outrebounded 53-27 and outscored 19-2 in second-chance points. Superstar Trae Young had moments of hot shooting but was nagged into a 7-of-21 night, with four turnovers. Christian James, perhaps the most reliable Sooner, didn’t even score.
Meanwhile, six Cowboys sank at least one 3-pointer, Jeffrey Carroll had 13 rebounds and when point guard Kendall Smith fouled out with 2:50 left and the Sooners only down eight, OSU didn’t fold. The Cowboys went on a 7-0 run to end all threat of an OU comeback.
Most projections say the 18-13 Sooners safely are in the NCAA Tournament, courtesy of those six Quadrant 1 victories. But now the Cowboys have six Quad 1 victories, too, and clearly are the superior team.
Both teams might be sweating out the Sunday selections, but OSU can hold its head high. The Sooners would enter the big dance with a certain amount of shame.
“I didn’t expect to be in this position by any means,” said Young. “I obviously expected us to keep winning and hopefully have a chance to get a 1 seed or 2 seed or up in that range. But our body of work speaks for itself and I think we have a good shot of getting in just because of our resume’.”
If the selection committee is studying OU’s resume’ instead of watching OU play, the Sooners have a good chance. If the committee is watching OSU play, the Cowboys do, too.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:405:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.