Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners drop close one to Texas Tech, 57-52

On Monday night, the No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners were defeated by the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders (13-5, 5-4), 57-52. With the loss, OU falls to 11-5 on the season and 6-4 in Big 12 play.

Starting senior guards Austin Reaves and Alondes Williams each missed their second consecutive contest due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocol. Their absence on the floor presented a major opportunity for the available Sooners to step up, but against Chris Beard’s stingy defense, Lon Kruger’s group was unable to successfully replace that loss in offensive production. On the night, Oklahoma made just 33 percent of its field goal attempts en route to a season-low of 52 points. Junior guard Umoja Gibson and sophomore guard De’Vion Harmon led the team with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Some good news. Following the game, Kruger confirmed the return of Reaves for Oklahoma’s upcoming game against ISU this Saturday.

In the first half, both Oklahoma and Texas Tech looked sloppy on offense as each team’s defense shut the opposition down. The Sooners only managed 18 points before halftime, but managed to stay within reasonable striking distance. After the break, TTU led by as many as 10 with three minutes remaining, but OU quickly and furiously battled back to eventually cut their deficit to just two in the final minute. In the end, the Red Raiders completed their regular season sweep over the Crimson & Cream while also snapping their impressive five-game winning streak.

Up next, Oklahoma returns to the Lloyd Noble Center to host a struggling Iowa State squad (2-9, 0-6) on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Sooners have won two of the last three games against the Cyclones in Norman, and should be heavy favorites this weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.

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