Yahoo Sports Oklahoma Sooners stifle No. 23 Iowa State in 61-50 win
The Oklahoma Sooner picked up their second top 25 win in the last three games with an impressive defensive effort against the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones 61-50.
Oklahoma held the Cyclones to 31% from the field and 26.7% from three to improve to 14-15 and 4-12 in Big 12 play.
Early in the contest, Oklahoma trailed Iowa State 14-3 with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half. The Sooners battled throughout the rest of the first half to trail by just five after the first 20 minutes.
Over the first 5 minutes of the second half, Oklahoma outscored Iowa State 13-4 to take a 36-32 lead. The Sooners led the rest of the way, and the Cyclones never were that close again.
It was a strong performance from the Groves brothers in the win. Jacob came off the bench to lead the Sooners in scoring with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting. He was 4 of 5 from three to give the Sooners a boost. Tanner was 4 of 8 from the field and finished with nine points and 13 rebounds. In a game where Grant Sherfield was just 2 of 9 from the field and 2 of 8 from three, Oklahoma needed someone to step up, and the Groves did just that.
Sherfield did have 10 points and went 4 for 4 from the free throw line, but it was yet another inefficient performance for the Sooners guard.
Otega Oweh had an efficient performance in the starting lineup, hitting both of his field goal attempts and going 4 for 4 from the free throw line.
The Sooners NCAA tournament hopes may be relegated to winning the Big 12 tournament, but they’re certainly making a statement as the season winds down. They have a couple more games against top 25 opponents before the Big 12 tournament begins. They’ll face No. 14 Kansas State on March 1 and No. 24 TCU on March 4 to close out the regular season.
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