Lattin’s defense helps boost Sooners
NORMAN—Khadeem Lattin didn’t lead Oklahoma in scoring in Saturday’s 73-68 win over TCU.
He wasn’t the leading rebounder, nor did he defend the shot—or get the rebound—on the defensive series that ultimately led to the Sooners coming away with the victory.
But if you’re looking for a reason that Oklahoma has played so much better recently compared to
its struggles for most of the season, it’s Lattin.
Sooners coach Lon Kruger said it’s been the primary driver of Oklahoma’s defensive improvement of late.
“The last three weeks to a month, we’ve gotten a lot better defensively because of Khadeem at the starting point,” Kruger said. “What he’s doing defensively—not just blocking shots, but he’s playing ball screens and how he’s communicating back there behind guys, just maintaining good position all the time. He started that and all the guys bought into that and have done a really good job.”
That improvement was evident again against the Horned Frogs with 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals for the junior.
In Oklahoma’s first 22 games, Lattin had double-digit rebounds just twice. He’s done it in four of the last eight games.
It helped the Sooners (11-19, 5-13 Big 12) climb out of the basement to finish ninth and force a 6 p.m. Wednesday rematch against TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
It all started about a month ago when assistant coach Carlin Hartman pulled Lattin aside.
“You need your flair back,” Hartman told Lattin. Flair? “I was kind of confused,” Lattin said. “So I went back and watched some film and I saw what he meant so I had to go back and grab my flair.”
Lattin concentrated on his positioning, communication with teammates and being a better “anchor” defensively.
“Once it got to the point where I could tell them confidently and comfortably where to be at, then it made the game easier for everyone,” Lattin said.
It certainly appeared to benefit Kristian Doolittle. The freshman had 19 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Oklahoma’s overall defensive improvement was apparent in the final minute, shortly after Kameron McGusty put the Sooners up 68-66 with a pair of free throws.
The Horned Frogs worked the ball around the perimeter, trying to find room to drive to the basket or an open shot from outside but couldn’t, being forced to settle for a contested 3-pointer by JD Miller over the outstretched arms of McGusty.
“Probably wasn’t the shot we wanted,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “They’re a good defensive team. They’re a physical team—very physical.”
Lattin punctuated the win with a block in the final five seconds that was grabbed for Doolittle’s final rebound.
“We made some big plays late to get in the right column—something we may not have done a month ago,” Kruger said. “But they did tonight. I’m really happy for them.”
McGusty tied a career high with 22 points as the Sooners won a game by five or fewer points for just the third time this season. OU has lost nine games either by five or fewer points or in overtime.
“We’ve been there before,” McGusty said. “We weren’t going to slip up this time. We knew we had experience. We were locked in.”