Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners bitten by Kansas State, 62-57

On Tuesday, the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners were upset by the Kansas State Wildcats (7-18, 3-13), 61-57. With the loss, OU falls to 14-6 on the season and 9-5 in Big 12 play.

Despite missing a large portion of the first half with foul trouble, senior guard Austin Reaves nearly lifted Oklahoma to a comeback road win. On the night, the Sooners’ star player led all scorers with 25 points while adding six rebounds and an assist.

The first half was a relatively sloppy affair for both sides, but particularly for an Oklahoma team that came into Bramlage Coliseum clicking on all cylinders. After holding off Kansas State’s offense for the first 10 minutes, the Wildcats began to find the bottom of the net. Unfortunately for the Sooners, the offense was interrupted by Reaves’ early benching, but it’s important to give credit to KSU’s energetic defense. The good news for OU by the time the halftime break rolled around was that the game was all knotted up at 29 apiece.

Oklahoma started the second half ice cold from the floor as K-State methodically built a 7-point advantage. Moments later, OU went on a 13-2 run to re-take the lead. Beyond that, it was a tightly contested game that saw both teams trade scores for scores. Outside of Reaves, the Sooners simply struggled to put points on the board, shooting a collective 13-38 from the field and 2-16 from behind the arc. Reaves wound up missing a would-be game-tying triple in the final seconds (and appeared to be fouled) before the Wildcats sealed the deal at the free throw line.

Up next, Oklahoma hosts Bedlam as the Oklahoma State Cowboys (15-6, 8-6) make their way to the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday, Feb. 27. Overall, the Sooners have won three of the last four in the series as well as the last three meetings in Norman. Tip-off for this in-state rivalry is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on ABC.

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