Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: OU falls at home to Iowa State, 75-74

The Oklahoma Sooners lost their third straight Big 12 contest, this time in heartbreaking fashion. OU led the Iowa State Cyclones for a majority of the game before coming up just short in a deflating 75-74 loss. The loss drops OU to 3-7 in Big 12 play.

Last week’s shooting woes continued for the backcourt duo of Christian James and Aaron Calixte. The pair shot a combined 5/20 from the floor for a measly 13 total points. Their shortcomings left the lion’s share of the offensive workload to Kristian Doolittle and Brady Manek. Doolittle had one of his best games of the season posting 19 points on 8/13 shooting, nine rebounds, and a pair of blocks. Manek found his shooting stroke early and finished with 16 points on 6/9 shooting from the field and 4/7 from three.

OU shot out of the gate early and led by as many as 10 points in the first half. Some great perimeter shooting from Manek and Matt Freeman propelled the early run, but Iowa State was able to claw it’s way back into the game until OU took a 36-35 lead into halftime.

The Cyclones came out firing in the second half and immediately retook the lead. The game remained close all the way to the end as Iowa State never led by more than seven points. With the score tied 69-69 with just over a minute left, ISU’s Marial Shayok hit a heavily contested three to give the Cyclones the lead. Brady Manek narrowly missed a three on OU’s ensuing possession, and that was ultimately all she wrote.

A consolation prize (for some) came at the end when Jamal Bieniemy hit a three as time expired (or after it expired). The basket was non-consequential with regard to the outcome, but it did cut Iowa State’s lead from four points down to one. The Cyclones were 2.5-point favorites heading into the game, so the final basket ended up making Scott Van Pelt’s “Bad Beats” segment.

Good teams win, great teams cover.

The Sooners will have another shot to snap their three game losing streak on Saturday, but will be no easy feat as the No. 18 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders come to Norman. Tipoff will be at 3 p.m. CT and will be televised on ESPNU. There are still plenty of tickets available for as little as $6. I don’t imagine you’ll have a tough time finding a parking place.