Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: OU falls at home to Kansas State, 74-61

Wednesday night’s 74-61 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats is one that Lon Kruger and the Oklahoma Sooners should try to put in the rearview mirror as soon as possible. It was OU’s first home loss of the season and far-and-away the worst performance of the season to date — even if it wasn’t the season’s largest margin of defeat. The Sooners shot a disappointing 22-47 from the field, and players not named Christian James shot a combined 3-12 from the free throw line.

The game got off to a rocky start as OU mustered just three points in the first seven minutes. However, the Sooners fought back to cut the K-State lead to 30-24 at the half.

The game never got closer than five points during the second half. Outside of Christian James and Rashard Odomes, nobody on the team seemed to be able to buy a bucket. James finished the night with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Odomes tallied 17 points on 8-10 shooting.

Sophomore Brady Manek, who has struggled to find consistency this season, had a quiet five points and took only four shots. Jamuni McNeace played just 14 minutes and still does not appear to be 100%.

On the other side, OU was unable to slow down the Wildcats’ stars as Barry Brown and Dean Wade posted 25 and 20-point performances, respectively. K-State was able to capitalize on OU’s miscues and scored 18 points off of OU’s 16 turnovers.

This is no doubt a game that Lon Kruger will look to put behind them as soon as possible. The Sooners are now 2-3 in Big 12 play heading into a huge game against Texas in Austin on Saturday. Tipoff is at 7 pm CT and the game will be televised on the Longhorn Network (seriously).