Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners shock Wichita State, 91-83

Lon Kruger and the Oklahoma Sooners shock the Shockers on the road 91-83, pulling off the upset over 3rd ranked Wichita State. A pair of native Oklahomans led the way in the monster showdown. Freshman phenom Trae Young dazzled once again with 29 points and 10 assists, while other true freshman Brady Manek turned in a career-high 21 points. On the biggest stage of the Sooners’ season thus far, Oklahoma made a major statement with the entire college basketball world watching.

Three takeaways:

• It seems like a broken record at this point, but Trae Young looked like the best player in college basketball once again. Recording his 4th double-double of the season, Young was his usual efficient self. Young went 9-22 from the field, including 4-11 from three-point land and 7-7 from the free throw line. Although the Sooners as a team slowed down offensively in the second half, Young kept the Shockers at bay with his playmaking.

Young even drew some star-worthy comparisons for his style of play, and I agree with every single one of them.

• Freshman forward Brady Manek scored a career-high 21 points, surpassing his previous best of 16 points against Ball State. The Harrah native went 5-13 from deep, and added a couple rebounds as well as one block. Manek’s game is sneaky, because not only is he capable of drilling a team from deep, he’s able to put the ball on the court and rush to the rim with authority. Going forward, Manek will be heavily relied upon to score in addition to Young’s contributions.

• An area in the game that determined the outcome was the three point difference. OU made 13-40 three-pointers, while the Shockers went 6-24 from deep. If the Sooners can continue to defend the three-ball as well as they can shoot it, they should be more than competitive in every game the rest of this season.

What’s next?

Oklahoma returns to Lloyd Noble Center for the final two contests of the non-conference schedule. Coming to Norman are a pair of Northwestern squads. On December 19th, the Sooners welcome the Northwestern State Demons out of the Southland Conference. Three days later, OU hosts the Northwestern Wildcats out of the Big Ten. Oklahoma should be comfortable favorites in each of the two contests before diving into Big 12 play. Sophomore forward Kristian Doolittle is also due to return to the line-up after being suspended for academic purposes this fall semester.

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