Oklahoma avenges earlier season loss, tops KU 75-68
NORMAN — Two weeks ago, the Oklahoma Sooners fell short of a historic upset of the Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse.
Saturday morning in the Lloyd Noble Center, they finished the job, toppling the No. 9 ranked Jayhawks 75-68.
"Proud of our guys," head coach Lon Kruger said after the game. "Big time battle. Both teams I thought fought like crazy and buckets were kind of hard to come by.
"That game, you know, obviously could have gone either way and the guys hung in there. Got a little bit of a margin there late and made free throws. late and did a good job to close it out."
Early on, sophomore guard De’Vion Harmon was OU’s offensive focal point, scoring the first eight points for the Sooners.
While Kansas got off to a hot shooting start, OU settled into the game and continued its recent trend of shutting down opponents
The Sooners took control of the first half with a stretch of suffocating defense. Holding KU scoreless for 6:39, Oklahoma engineered a 16-2 scoring run that helped build the first-half lead to as many as eight.
As great teams do, Kansas recovered and closed the half on a high, cutting the Oklahoma advantage to just one point at the break.
A flurry of Kansas fouls out of halftime presented OU a chance to win the game at the free throw line. The Jayhawks were whistled for their seventh team foul of the half with 14:21 left on the clock. The Sooners, who despite continually attacking the rim in the first half, hadn’t taken trip to the free throw line until early in the second half.
"I thought we attacked better in the second half," Kruger said. "We moved the ball better and attacked some long close outs and got to the paint, and then got to the bonus early. So that was critical that the guys were aggressive attacking."
Oklahoma finished the game converting 18-of-22 attempts from the charity stripe.
Elijah Harkless
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
Elijah Harkless, still starting in the place of Brady Manek, who missed 12 days due to COVID-19, once again was a difference maker for OU on the defensive end of the floor. Swiping three of Oklahoma's six steals, Harkless also added seven points before fouling out.
"He's been critical in terms of the aggressiveness, being a bit more physical defensively, rebounding the ball with a passion," Kruger said of Harkless. "I love what he's doing and I love what he's bringing to the club and the guys are feeding off his physicality."
Finishing with 22 points (one point shy of a career high), Harmon carried the scoring load for the Sooners most of the game, but Oklahoma’s new four-guard look spread the wealth and helped carry OU across the finish line.
Rolling with Harmon, Umoja Gibson, Austin Reaves, Harkless and Manek down the stretch, Reaves came alive.
The senior scored 11 of his 16 across the final eight minutes.
"I was just struggling. I didn't play well and that's on me," Reaves said. "But we really just stuck with the plan, stuck with what the coaches wanted to do and in the end we came out with a good win."
Austin Reaves
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
No bucket may have swung the momentum more than Gibson’s with 1:59 left in the game.
The Oklahoma lead was just five points, and Gibson got the ball at the top of the key with seven seconds on the shot clock. Gibson put his head down and drove hard to the bucket, dropping in a layup and drawing the foul, bringing the limited-capacity Lloyd Noble Center to its feet.
"It's nice to feel that again," Reaves said of the in-arena atmosphere. "I miss playing with fans. I'm sure everybody does, it just gives you a little more, a little better feel.
"So yeah, I mean I think that we really felt that."
Harmon said he was actually surprised with just how loud the limited amount of fans got down the stretch.
"It's a lot louder in here than we thought it was gonna be, especially during, you know, obviously due to COVID and it being a morning tipoff," Harmon said. "It sure was good just to feed off the energy."
Gibson finished with 10 points, following only Reaves (16) and Harmon’s 22 to lead OU in scoring.
All of Harmon's recent success is well earned by the way he works off the floor, Kruger said.
"No one puts in more time in before practice and after practice. Competes hard, plays hard every day in practice," Kruger said. "Anytime a guy is doing that, you want very much for him to have huge success and De'Vion's doing that right now. The way he works and prepares, I don't know why that would change."
De'Vion Harmon
Ty Russell / OU Athletics
Entering the game with the Big 12's best rebounding margin, the Jayhawks had little success against Oklahoma on the glass. The Sooners won the boards 35-25 and forced 11 turnovers in the win.
"We weren't going to lose today," Harmon said. "I told (the team), you know, we talked about it this whole week after we played K-State- a big game. We weren't gonna lose it."
Kruger’s squad won’t have tons of time to cherish the upset, as another ranked opponent awaits. Tuesday evening, the Sooners will travel to Austin, TX, to take on the No. 6-ranked Texas Longhorns at 6 p.m.
