OU Basketball: Oklahoma's Upset Bid Over No. 6 Texas Falls Short on New Year's Eve

Grant Sherfield's 22 points weren't enough for the Sooners to pull a huge upset to start Big 12 play on Saturday afternoon.

NORMAN — Oklahoma nearly pulled off the perfect close to 2022 in its Big 12 Conference opener.

Hosting the No. 6-ranked Texas Longhorns, Porter Moser’s Sooners pushed their rivals in a back-and-forth contest Saturday afternoon at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Tied headed into the final minute of the game, it was the Longhorns who made the plays necessary to build a 67-64 lead with 13 seconds left.

Oklahoma turned to guard Grant Sherfield, the game’s leading scorer, to try and draw the game level.

But he was unable to set up a clean look at the bucket, heaving a desperation 3-pointer from well beyond the arc that failed to connect.

From there, the Longhorns closed out a 70-69 win from the free throw line, dropping the Sooners to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play on the year.

“I thought both teams guarded at a high level,” Moser said after the loss. “I thought we guarded at a high level then they went to some iso. Kind of same as what Arkansas did. They just iso'd us. But the difference was the offensive rebounds.

“… I thought we really guarded them at a high level until the second half with those rebounds. You can't give an offense, a team that many second chance points in the second half.”

The Longhorns (12-1, 1-0) pulled down 12 offensive boards, which they converted into 12 second chance points.

Though he was unable to hit the clutch shot late, Sherfield led the charge for the Sooners in the first half.

The talented scorer was the only player to reach double figures over the opening 20 minutes, pouring in 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting before halftime after missing his first three field goal attempts.

He punctuated his outstanding first half with a sweet fadeaway jumper in front of the Texas bench in transition, drawing a foul to complete the 3-point possession just before halftime. 

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓. 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃. 🤯

📺 ESPN+ | https://t.co/3rLMkV0Xd7 pic.twitter.com/XmGcWAm4mk

— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) December 31, 2022

OU took a 35-31 advantage into the locker room, but the game remained tight for the duration.

Both teams got off to a fast shooting start in the second half, but then Oklahoma’s offense ground to a halt.

Texas’ defense stiffened and held OU without a field goal for eight minutes. As the shots stopped falling, Oklahoma settled for brick after brick from deep, allowing the Longhorns to go on a 10-1 run and take a 46-44 lead with 10:17 remaining in the game.

But then the offense woke up.

OU forward Jalen Hill ended the drought with a tip-in off an offensive rebound, and then drained a 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor.

A Marcus Carr jumper put the Longhorns back on top 51-49, but Jacob Groves ignited the best Lloyd Noble Center crowd of the season with back-to-back triples to retake a 55-51 lead, forcing Texas to burn a timeout to halt the momentum with 7:35 left.

Minutes later, Hill again put the Sooners on top 58-57 with his second connection from long range of the night, setting up the dramatic finish.

Have yourself a day, @Kbj_vi 🙌

Hill buries his second 3-pointer and is 2 of 3 from deep! He has 14 points and six rebounds!

📺 ESPN+ | https://t.co/3rLMkV0Xd7 pic.twitter.com/6vhGARU4Qp

— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) December 31, 2022

With the game tied 62-62 headed into the final minute, OU cooled off from deep.

Carr put Texas up 64-62 with 48 seconds, and on the other end the Sooner offense turned to true freshman Milos Uzan.

Right in front of Oklahoma’s bench, the guard found separation to ring up a 3-ball, but it clanked off the back iron.

Moser opted to let the offense run instead of burning a timeout after OU got the ball, but the shot simply didn’t fall for the Sooners.

“Sometimes you can call timeout,” Moser said. “But they're tired too. Then you're giving them a chance to get their breath and lock in their defense.

“… I felt we knew what we were doing. I mean we skipped it to Los, he had a really, really good look.”

The Sooners extended the game, fouling and converting quick 2-point buckets on the other end, but OU was unable to wrestle the lead back in the final 60 seconds.

Sherfield ultimately finished with 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting, adding three rebound and three assist after a tough second half for Oklahoma’s leading scorer.

“They were all over him the whole time but it was like a boxer with body blows,” Moser said. “The second half they just — I mean you go in the paint and they just took three and surrounded him. They trapped him on ball screens.

“And I think for him, we were asking him to do so much and I thought he had some spectacular plays in the first half. But over a long period of time they were like — it was like a boxer with body blows.”

Groves ended up with 17 points, knocking down 5-of-9 shots from deep, and Hill was Oklahoma’s only other player to end with double-digits after a 14-point, six rebound performance.

“I thought (Hill) was incredible guarding,” Moser said. “He went 4-for-7. Six rebounds. 14 points.

“With the rebounding, the offensive rebounds they got especially in the second half...but Jalen, it was just an absolute warrior effort I thought he had when you break down some of this stuff.”

Texas’ bench production, which outscored OU 27-5, proved to be the difference as the Sooners starters were unable to drill the big shots down the stretch.

The Sooners won’t have much time to dwell on the loss, as they welcome Iowa State to Lloyd Noble Center at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. 

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