Oklahoma Sooners basketball: OU falls at Alabama 80-73

It’s true what they say folks, basketball is a team game. You can’t rely on one player to do everything, and that’s exactly the trap that Oklahoma fell into in Saturday’s 80-73 road loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Trae Young kept the pass-first mentality that led OU to a win over Kansas earlier this week, but the rest of the team simply didn’t step up down the stretch.

Brady Manek and Christian James combined to shoot 8-22 from the field and 3-14 from three. The entire Sooners’ bench chipped in a total of 3 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist. That effort was simply not enough match Alabama’s depth. All nine players who saw the floor for the Tide scored at least three points.

Poor shooting and inability to get to the foul line ultimately what killed OU in the second half. The Sooners shot an abysmal 29.6% (8-27) from three and only got to the free throw line nine times as a team compared to 22 free throw attempts from Alabama.

OU’s best performance of the day came from senior Khadeem Lattin who chipped in 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Trae Young’s 17 points and 8 assists were both well below his season averages.

The good news is that the Sooners’ off night came in a non-conference game, so OU is still very much alive in the Big 12 title hunt. OU is currently in a four-way tie for second in the conference, just one game behind Kansas.

The Sooners’ next game is Tuesday night against a Baylor team that has lost five of its last six games and currently sits in last place in the Big 12.