Oklahoma
Hoops: Sooners grab much-needed road win over Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE — It wasn’t pretty, but Oklahoma got the job done. Despite leading by 13 points at one point in the first half and playing well for much of the opening 16 minutes, the Sooners found themselves in another tight battle.
After a rough stretch to start the second half, where Oklahoma went cold and committed seven turnovers, the game was knotted at 62-62 with just 1:20 left.
Out of a sideline inbounds, the Sooners went to Jalon Moore, who drew a foul and hit one of two free throws. Then, after a big defensive stop, Mohamed Wague was called for an offensive foul, giving Arkansas one last chance with 24.7 seconds to go.
The Razorbacks couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Duke Miles grabbed the rebound, fed it to Moore, who slammed it home, sealing a 65-62 victory for the Sooners, moving them to 15-4 (2-4) on the season.
“We knew they were going to be physical and drive it,” said Porter Moser. “We were all about getting that rebound, making a tough shot, and then going to get it. It’s like how they won the Georgia game—Thiero came and took it and got that offensive rebound. We talked about that in that huddle: ‘We’ve got to get the rebound.’”
— Oklahoma’s three-point shooting was key in the first half. The Sooners hit 7 of 16 from deep (43.8%), taking full advantage of Arkansas’ struggles to defend the perimeter. Glenn Taylor sank two, Luke Northweather added one off the bench, and Jeremiah Fears got in on the action early. Oklahoma’s ability to stretch the floor had the Razorbacks scrambling defensively.
Brycen Goodine shined from behind the arc, scoring 9 points on 3-6 shooting. He was hot in the first half but struggled with foul trouble in the second. “He’s such a threat from three,” said Moser. “Even when he doesn’t get it, you can look at the tape—they’re shading him. So it opens up driving lanes.”
— Arkansas closed the half on a 9-0 run, flipping the momentum heading into the break. OU’s 13-point lead vanished in a hurry, cut to just four as the Razorbacks came alive late. The Sooners controlled most of the game but went ice-cold down the stretch, failing to make a field goal in the final four minutes.
— Halfway through the second half, the Sooners had scored just 9 points in the first 10 minutes. They hadn’t hit a field goal in the last 3:47 and had committed 7 turnovers during the 10-minute span.
— The Sooners leaned heavily on Jalon Moore, who played 37 minutes and finished with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds. Moore, Fears, and Miles each logged 30+ minutes in the game.
— Fears finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 4-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 1-of-1 from three. He logged 32 minutes and committed just two turnovers. Moser highlighted a key growth moment for Fears in the first half.
“One of the key plays for him in this game came when he got trapped by their bench in the first half. Instead of panicking, he didn’t just throw it away. He stepped through, got it out to Sam, and we ended up with a dunk.
“That was a huge growth play because when you get trapped, sometimes you just ‘hot potato’ it. But he stepped through, made sure he got it out, and when we did, we got a dunk. I thought that was a really big play for him.”
Fears took a hard hit and went down with an apparent leg injury late in the first half, but it didn’t faze him. “He just doesn’t have a lot of fear. He’s not afraid of any moment. I think everyone else was more worried when he went down than he was. He got hit in the thigh, but what I liked is that when he went back in, he didn’t let it be an excuse. He played really hard.”
— Taylor and Northweather provided solid contributions off the bench. Taylor finished with 8 points on 3-7 shooting and added six rebounds in 23 minutes. Northweather chipped in 6 points, including three clutch free throws, despite going 1-4 from beyond the arc.
— Oklahoma’s shooting was a tale of two halves. The Sooners started strong from beyond the arc, going 7-16 (43.8%) in the first half. But they went cold in the second half, missing all five of their three-point attempts. Overall, they finished 7-21 (33.3%) from deep and 21-51 (41.2%) from the field, with 13 turnovers.
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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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