Sooners suffer another tough home loss to Texas Tech
Jan. 27—For the third straight trip down the court, Oklahoma had the ball and a chance to either tie the game or take the lead in the final minute against Texas Tech.
This time the Red Raiders had just missed the second of a pair of free throws and the Sooners needed just two points to tie the game. Milos Uzan was denied a pass to Otega Oweh and drove into the paint for a layup.
The shot would've tied the game for the 12th time in a back-and-forth battle at a sold-out Lloyd Noble Center.
Uzan's shot missed and the Sooners suffered their second straight heartbreaker in an 85-84 home loss.
"This is not a broken locker room, this is a locker room that's hurting right now," OU head coach Porter Moser said. "They're crushed in there and there's only one way to respond."
In a matchup between the top two free throw shooting teams in the Big 12, the Sooners were unable to overcome their worst shooting performance of the season from the line.
They missed nine of their 24 attempts (62.5%) and had six misses in the second half alone.
"Everything matters when it's a one-point loss," Moser said.
Outside of a frustrating day from the charity stripe, Oklahoma finished with its most points in any conference game this season. The Sooners knocked down 11 3-pointers and shot 42% from behind the arc.
They also scored 34 points in the paint and had 12 offensive rebounds, while shooting 47% from the floor.
But the Red Raiders were able to do whatever they wanted offensively too, shooting 53% from the field and 72% in the second half. Their 52 points in the second half tied the most the Sooners have given up in any half this season.
For the second game in a row, Oklahoma entered halftime with a one-point lead.
Both sides traded baskets early in the second half, but the Sooners seemed to be creating separation with 8 minutes to go. They went on a 13-4 run to take a nine-point lead, before the Red Raiders responded with a 16-5 swing of their own.
Chance McMillian knocked down his sixth 3-pointer of the game with 1:27 to help the Red Raiders take the lead back for good.
The junior guard led all scorers with 27 points on 10-13 shooting and was 6-8 from behind the arc with eight rebounds.
Oklahoma's Rivaldo Soares continued an impressive stretch in recent games with a season-high 19 points and three triples. The senior also pulled down 10 rebounds, which matched a career high and four assists.
Up Next
After going 0-2 this week, the Sooners fall to 3-4 in conference play and 15-5 overall. They return to the Lloyd Noble Center on Feb. 6 against BYU.
Before that, they'll have a pair of road games next week against Kansas State and UCF. The Sooners will play Kansas State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
