Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: Xavier’s three-point barrage sinks Sooners, 99-77

Following a solid road win over the TCU Horned Frogs this past Sunday, the Oklahoma Sooners were perhaps due to come back down to earth. Playing a quality team on the road early in the season also has its way of exposing flaws, and boy oh boy, did the Xavier Musketeers do that tonight. When it was all said and done, the home team had sunk a school-record 19 three-pointers to take down OU by a score of 99-77.

The Sooners were perfectly fine on the offensive end, as the team shot 48.3 percent from the field and had five different players in double figures. Brady Manek led the way for OU with 17 points on 6/11 (3/6) shooting, while Austin Reaves chipped in 13 on 4/8. De’Vion Harmon also reached double-figures for the third time in three games with his 11 points, and Alondes Williams chipped in 10 of his own. The most notable offensive performance of the night, however, came from sophmore Victor Iwuakor, who scored 10 while going 5/8 from the field in his first action of the season.

Defense, on the other hand, was a different story, as Xavier regularly had open looks on the perimeter. The man who did the most damage was Nate Johnson, who was responsible for seven of the Musketeers’ 19 treys while only missing two of his deep attempts. Paul Scruggs was no slouch himself, making four of his five attempts from beyond the arch. All in all, Xavier made 19 of its 32 three-point attempts, many of which were uncontested. With OU assistant Jim Molinari on the case, the perimeter defense is sure to improve, but losing Jamal Bieniemy in the offseason definitely set the Sooners back a bit in this regard. For now, it’s clearly OU’s weakest spot, and most Big 12 programs are good enough to make them pay for the deficiency.

Next on the schedule for the Sooners is a Saturday matchup with Florida A&M, which tips off at the Lloyd Noble Center at 4 p.m. CT and airs on FOX Sports Southwest.