Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners hang on to top No. 5 Texas, 80-79

I don’t know where to begin, but let’s give it a shot.

The No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners held on to pull off an 80-79 upset of the No. 5 Texas Longhorns to improve to 10-4 on the season and 6-3 in Big 12 play. It was OU’s second straight win over a top-10 team and its third on the young season.

There is, however, a bit to unpack from this one.

Oklahoma got some great performances from a number of sources, including Austin Reaves, contributing 23 points while only turning it over twice at the point guard position. De’Vion Harmon continued his solid run of form, adding 13 points on 6/10 shooting.

Transfers Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless also reached double figures, with the latter putting forth yet another impressive defensive performance. There were plenty of great moments to take away from this one, including this incredible hustle play from Harkless.

On the other hand, Texas entered the game down three contributors (including starters Jericho Sims and Courtney Ramey) and dealt with foul trouble all night due to some very strict officiating (to put it politely) on both ends. Everything seemed to be going OU’s way, but the team was just never quite able to pull away, whether it was due to shaky free throw shooting throughout the night or sloppy offense down the stretch.

Due to various circumstances, the conclusion of this game felt like Oklahoma narrowly dodged an upset as opposed to beating a top-5 team and a rival, but all Sooners involved will gladly take it. OU fans can block out some of the ugliness of this game and cheerfully move on. I must confess, it was brutal to watch during crunch time.

Would you like to know what the most satisfying takeaway from this game happens to be? This own-goal in what ended up being a one-point OU win, of course!

Aside from the hilarious Longhorn gaffe, OU fans should relish the fact that this team’s effort has been fantastic as of late, which has a way of keeping a team competitive against more talented competition. Ugly or not, they really are a joy to watch.

Up next for the Sooners this Saturday is another top-10 matchup, this time in the Big 12-SEC Challenge against the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide. Tip-off in Norman is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.