You can pretty much take all the warm and fuzzy feelings gathered from Oklahoma's gritty performance against Kentucky on Monday and throw them out the window. Why? Because that team didn't show up to play against Virginia on Tuesday. Instead, we got a team that very much looked the part of our worst fears going into the season, that they wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of life on the big stage and would be totally outmatched. Yep, that's what we got. A team that was never competitive in a 74-56 blowout loss.
Starting with Oklahoma's first possession it was clear that they were outmatched, then proven on they're second and reiterated on their third. All three of those possessions ended in turnovers that produced points for the Cavilers. Oklahoma turned the ball over 17 times Tuesday afternoon as opposed to recording just three steals and only nine assists.
Taking care of the ball has to be a must but on a day when you're struggling to protect the rock you've got to call on strong defense and high percentage shots to keep you going. Nope! That didn't happen either. Instead the Cavs sank seven three-point shots and Oklahoma shot a paltry 44% from the floor.
Everything that could have gone wrong for Oklahoma on Tuesday did. We Monday in Hawaii showed us the potential of this basketball team, Tuesday showed up what they actually are.