Oklahoma
3 Takeaways from No. 15 Mizzou’s Loss at Oklahoma
The No. 15-ranked Missouri Tigers have quickly turned from a team that looks poised to wreck some seasons in March, to one that has gone on a windy road down.
The Tigers fell 96-84 to Oklahoma Wednesday night, marking its third loss in the last four games.
The Tigers need to find their footing again to make the sort of damage they showed the capability of having earlier in the season in multiple upset wins.
The loss against Oklahoma included the continuation of multiple concerning trends. Here’s three takeaways from Missouri’s ninth loss on the year.
The code to break into the interior of the Missouri defense was relatively easy to crack for Oklahoma, who scored 48 points in the paint. Oklahoma shot 69 percent from the field in the first half, nearly 22 percent above its average of 47.1 percent.
Missouri has now allowed over 90 points per game in four of its last five games, with a home matchup against South Carolina being the only exception.
Missouri’s defense did do a solid job on the glass, limiting Oklahoma to just eight offensive rebounds while the Tiger defense grabbed 17. And Josh Gray was productive with his five minutes, grabbing five rebounds.
But the aggressiveness that was a staple of Missouri’s defensive identity early in conference play has dissipated. At some points, it seemed like Oklahoma could get what it wanted on the inside without much of a challenge.
After allowing a 10-3 run early on that put Missouri down 14-6 at the 14:47 mark, head coach Dennis Gates looked to switch things up. But none of the lineups really found a consistent seal defensively, with Gates rolling out 13 different players.
Defense certainly hasn’t been the strong suit for Missouri all season. But it’s become especially concerning over this final stretch.
Against the three SEC teams Missouri had to play twice this season (Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma), the Tigers won all three by an average of 17 points, with all three of those first matchups coming at Mizzou Arena.
But, when Missouri had to face off against those teams on the road, it’s been a different story.
The Tigers have now lost all three of those rematches by an average margin of defeat of 6.3 points.
“I think the second matchup is just is all preparation, teams get a feel each other” Gates said of what matters in a rematch during a press conference Tuesday. “Teams obviously gets a sort of reinvigoration of redemption. But the most important thing is that when I look at our conference, it’s about what you do before the game. Are you recovering how you need to recover from the standpoint of the emotional and mental toll that the season can put on your players?”
There’s the confounding variable to consider with this situation with all three of the second matches come on the road, which also hasn’t been Missouri’s strong suit this year. But the inability to win in any rematches is a possible red flag that shouldn’t be dismissed heading into the SEC Tournament.
A crucial point of Missouri’s identity this season has been its ability to get to the free-throw line more often than its opponents. It averages 7.8 more free-throw attempts per game than its opponents, the most in the SEC. Missouri’s opponents on average take 19.4 free-throw attempts per game.
Recent games though have been above both of those averages.
Wednesday night though, Oklahoma closed that gap and took 26 free-throw attempts compared to Missouri’s 24. The Tigers made 19 of those attempts and the Sooners 25 of theirs.
This, again, has been a trend headed in the right direction for Missouri. Vanderbilt took 24 attempts and Arkansas a staggering 37 to Missouri’s 17.
Less than three weeks ago, Missouri’s ability to use the free-throw discrepancy to its advantadge was on full display in a win over No. 4 Alabama — Missouri took 47 attempts from the free-throw line while Alabama took just 21.
Gates isn’t the one blowing the whistle. Sometimes, the calls won’t bounce Missouri’s way. But the increase in opponent free-throw attempts in recent games is certainly something to watch moving forward.
NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
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Putnam City West High School will shift to virtual learning on Tuesday after an incident involving two students prompted an investigation by the district and Oklahoma City police, according to Putnam City Schools.
District officials said administrators were alerted near the end of the school day Monday to an altercation involving two students in the school’s arena area.
Officials said the students left campus, and the case was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for investigation.
District officials said no students or staff were harmed and there is no ongoing safety threat related to the incident.
What we know
Putnam City West sent the following email to all families and staff at the school:
All PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st.
Today, an isolated serious incident involving two students occurred on school grounds. Near the end of the school day, administrators were alerted to an altercation between two students in the arena area. The individuals involved quickly left campus, prompting an initial fact-finding response by school administrators before the matter was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for further investigation. Because this is an active investigation involving students, no further information will be released at this time.
We understand this information may be concerning to students, staff, and families. Please know we are committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for all students. At Putnam City Schools, student and staff safety remains our highest priority. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to allow for a thorough investigation, all PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st. Students will need to check Google Classroom for updates from teachers.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of PC West.
Putnam City Schools
All students and staff at Putnam City West will transition to virtual learning on Tuesday, April 21, while investigators continue their work, according to the district.
Students were told to check Google Classroom for instructions from teachers.
The district said it is withholding additional details because the case involves students and remains under investigation.
School officials have not said what triggered the incident or whether any arrests have been made.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.
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