Oklahoma

Mavericks vs. Thunder recap: 4 thoughts from an intense 106-98 Mavericks win to the Oklahoma City Thunder

Published

10 months ago

January 18, 2025

Mavericks vs. Thunder recap: 4 thoughts from an intense 106-98 Mavericks win to the Oklahoma City Thunder

The short handed Dallas Mavericks (23-19) bested the short handed Oklahoma City Thunder (34-7) 106-98 in an intense matchup Friday night in Dallas. Kyrie Irving led all Mavericks with 25 points, five assists, and five rebounds, while Jalen Williams put up 19 points for the Thunder in a losing effort. Dallas got a much needed win, ending a three-game losing streak, while Oklahoma City suffered just their second loss in their last 21 games.

Dallas continued to be without starters Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively, but the big injury news was in Oklahoma. MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch with a sore wrist, missing his first game of the season and joining Isiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren in street clothes. The stars may have been missing, but it was still an intense matchup between two Western Conference contenders.

This was a game of runs, starting with Dallas taking a 10-0 lead off hot shooting from Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington. That was followed by the Thunder going on a 26-12 run to take a 26-22 lead into the second quarter. The Mavs countered with a huge 19-0 run at the end of the first half to go up by 20 points. If the second quarter was one of the best of the Mavericks season, the third quarter was one of the worst. Oklahoma City outscored Dallas 33-14 in the third, setting up a consequential fourth quarter.

It was a neck and neck fourth quarter until Spencer Dinwiddie hit two clutch threes, extending the lead to 101-93. Notable Thunder killer PJ Washington had a huge dunk to put the exclamation point on a great Mavericks win.

Here are our main thoughts from the game:

Role players stepped up

With Doncic’s return still being weeks away, Dallas has a huge offensive role to fill. When they play tough teams like the Thunder, the Mavericks need Kyrie Irving to play like an All-Star and get production from multiple role players. Tonight, they got both. Irving had 25 points and was joined in double figures by Washington, Dinwiddie, and Naji Marshall. Even more impressively, they combined to shoot 12/26 from three for an efficient 46%. They need each and every one of those points in a game that was a slugfest.

It’s impossible to replace what Doncic brings to this team, but the Mavericks need to find a way to win games without him in a competitive Western Conference. If they can get points from three or four role players, Dallas can beat anyone as evidenced by tonight.

Rebounding woes continue

Despite the Mavericks holding the Thunder to just 38% shooting from the field, this game came to the wire. That’s mainly down to Dallas giving up 20 second chance points off offensive rebounds. With Oklahoma City only scoring 98 points, second chance points accounts for a staggering 20% of their total offense. Without Hartenstein and Holmgren, Oklahoma City isn’t even a good rebounding team, yet that’s how they were able to stay in the game on a cold shooting night.

This is a familiar problem for Dallas, who are the fourth worst team in the league in giving up offensive rebounds. The Mavericks are simply not a good rebounding team, and they’re significantly worse without Luka. This is one of the biggest weaknesses with this team and needs to be a point of emphasis for the rest of the season.

Two more Mavericks injuries

It wouldn’t be a Dallas Mavericks game this season if there wasn’t a worrisome injury to a key rotation piece, but tonight we had two. Jaden Hardy went down with a right ankle sprain after a collision with Isiah Joe in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Then in the third quarter, Dwight Powell slipped closing out on Jaylin Williams and couldn’t get up off the floor. Powell was escorted to the locker room and also did not return to the game.

These injuries could not come at a worse time for Dallas. Hardy was having one of the best stretches of his career, scoring over 20 points against the Lakers and Pelicans in recent games. Powell was becoming a bigger part of the rotation with Lively out. The Mavs will have to get creative with their center rotation – look for Maxi Kleber and even Washington to play more minutes at center.

It’s unclear as of this writing whether Hardy or Powell will miss time, but they would join Doncic, Lively, Kessler Edwards, Dante Exum, and Jazian Gortman on an already lengthy injury report. The basketball gods are certainly testing the theory that this is the deepest Mavericks team of the Luka era. Exum seems to be close to returning, but Dallas has a real shortage of playable bodies in the short term.

These teams do not like each other

Even without the star players, this game was intense, highly competitive, and often chippy. PJ Washington was somewhat predictably at the center of the charged moments. Washington and Lu Dort wrestled over possession until Dort fell to the ground. Washington stood over Dort for a moment, which led to Aaron Wiggins shoving Washington. It was a whole lot of nothing, but led to double techs. Later in the game, Washington fouled Jaylen Williams in a hard, mid-air foul, which was ruled a flagrant one. If Oklahoma City fans hated Washington during last season’s playoff series, they’ll really hate him after tonight.

In general, it was a hard fought defensive battle. Players were diving for loose balls, playing aggressive defense, and living and dying on every shot. The Dallas crowd was loud and engaged – it felt like a playoff atmosphere.

If tonight is any indication, a full strength Mavericks and Thunder matchup in the playoffs would be one of the more exciting possible series. Let’s hope we get to see it come May.

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Oklahoma

Why Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Said John Mateer Was ‘Really Good’ vs. Missouri

Published

2 hours ago

November 23, 2025

Press Room

Why Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Said John Mateer Was ‘Really Good’ vs. Missouri

NORMAN — There were plenty of lowlights from John Mateer’s outing against Missouri on Saturday.

Of the 30 passes the Oklahoma quarterback threw, 16 of them went incomplete. He also nearly threw an interception early in the second half, when the Sooners led by just one score.

His final passing line — 14-of-30 for 173 yards and two touchdowns — wasn’t flashy. But it was good enough for No. 8 OU to beat the No. 22 Tigers 17-6.

“(He was) really good,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “Had to earn everything he was given. Made some really good plays. Every single one of his yards were earned, hard-earned yards.”

While Mateer was inconsistent, he made key plays when the Sooners needed them most.

Oklahoma punted on its first three drives and had minus-7 total yards of offense after the first quarter.

The Sooners were in danger of going three-and-out again on their fourth drive. But on third-and-7 from OU’s 13-yard line, Mateer hit wide receiver Isaiah Sategna in stride on a slant route, and Sategna took it 87 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.

“Really good job by John standing in there delivering the throw, and then Isaiah just turned on the burners going up the sideline,” OU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “Really good execution on that play.”

Mateer said, “Really good design that Arbuckle came up with and we got man (coverage) like we wanted. And I knew there was a ‘backer underneath I had to navigate, and I did. Luckily, put it on his nose and he was able to run.”

Just a few minutes later, Mateer took advantage of favorable field position.

After a short Mizzou punt, the Sooners started their drive at the Tigers’ 35-yard line. Mateer led a seven-play scoring drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Javonnie Gibson.

Mateer’s two touchdown passes were enough on a day where the Sooners’ defense allowed Missouri to score just twice on two field goals.

“I’m incredibly proud of him,” Arbuckle said. “I’m proud of the way he leads, I’m proud of the way that he plays. Are there always things we can be better at? Absolutely. But John Mateer, he’s a great ball player.”

Neither offense played pretty football in the second half.

Oklahoma compiled only 138 total yards, and Missouri had even fewer at 122. Mateer completed only six of his 13 pass attempts, throwing for just 49 yards in the final 30 minutes.

Still, Mateer was crucial in helping OU salt away its win.

The Sooners scored just three second-half points, but they were able to register nine first downs, thanks largely to short passes and runs for decent gains. Mateer ended the game as OU’s leading rusher, finishing with 60 yards on 18 carries, and the quarterback’s legs allowed the clock to keep moving in the low-scoring contest.

“You just gotta put your head down and take a hit, you know?” Mateer said. “So I did it, and it was fun.”

Mateer still hasn’t been at his best since returning from injury against Texas on Oct. 11. The quarterback hasn’t thrown for more than 250 yards in a game since the Sooners’ win over Auburn on Sept. 20. He has thrown four touchdowns and four interceptions in the six games since the surgery on his right hand.

Still, there has been progress lately.

Mateer threw multiple touchdown passes on Saturday for the first time since OU’s season opener against Illinois State. He has also gone two games without turning the ball over. And, most importantly, Mateer has led the Sooners to three wins in a row, keeping them in the picture for the College Football Playoff.

Mateer has slowly but steadily improved in the back half of the season, and that gives Arbuckle confidence as OU prepares for LSU, its final opponent of the regular season.

“I mean, playing insanely tough, not turning the ball over, doing the little things that it takes to win and being a great teammate and a great leader,” Arbuckle said. “That’s how I’ve seen him progress and I expect nothing different from him as soon as we go back to work tomorrow. And I’m excited to watch him attack it.”

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First Native woman drives Oklahoma’s iconic Sooner Schooner, a covered wagon mascot

Published

19 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

First Native woman drives Oklahoma’s iconic Sooner Schooner, a covered wagon mascot

For the first time in its 60-year history, the Sooner Schooner, the University of Oklahoma’s iconic covered wagon mascot, is being driven by a Native American woman.

Brianna Howard, a junior at OU and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, first drove the Schooner onto the field during the football team’s season opener against Illinois State.

“I only had a minute to get on the Schooner, get the reins and go,” Howard said Saturday before the Sooners’ game against Missouri in Norman. “I didn’t have enough time to get too nervous. When I went out there, it was amazing. I could not even hear the audience I was so zoned into driving.”

Members of the RUF/NEKS and the all-female spirit group Lil’ Sis take care of the Schooner and its ponies, and they take turns driving it during the game.

Members of the Oklahoma spirit groups drive the Sooner Schooner after a touchdown against Missouri during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Norman, Okla.

Alonzo Adams / AP

First introduced in 1964, the Sooner Schooner is pulled across the field before the game and after Oklahoma scores by matching white ponies named “Boomer” and “Sooner.”

Because the scaled-down Conestoga wagon is reminiscent of those pioneers used while settling Oklahoma Territory in the late 1800s, Howard acknowledged that some see the Schooner mascot as a symbol of oppression against Native people. But she said to her, driving the wagon represents taking ownership of that symbol.

“I know that for me, it’s a representation of taking back something that was used to oppress my people and my culture, and now that I’m in charge, it’s giving us the power,” she said. “Not everyone’s going to see it that way, and that’s OK.”

Jack Roehm, a senior at OU and president of the RUF/NEKS, drove the Schooner during Saturday’s game against Missouri and described the Sooner Schooner tradition as one of college football’s most unusual.

“It’s a historic tradition after every score having the ponies run across the field,” Roehm said. “There’s nothing like it in college football.”

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Oklahoma Likely to Face Full Strength Missouri per Friday Availability Report

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma Likely to Face Full Strength Missouri per Friday Availability Report

It appears Oklahoma will get Missouri’s best shot.

The Tigers’ starting quarterback, Beau Pribula, was upgraded to available for Saturday’s showdown by not appearing on Friday’s SEC Availability Report.

Pribula suffered a lower leg injury in Missouri’s loss to Vanderbilt, and he hasn’t appeared since.

Pribula has completed 69.6 percent of his passes this year for 1,685 yards and 11 touchdowns, though he has thrown seven interceptions.

But the No. 22-ranked Tigers will likely have him back as they try to upend No. 8 Oklahoma’s season.

For the Sooners’ part, they’ll be working without a few pieces.

Defensive end R Mason Thomas and defensive back Gentry Williams were both downgraded from questionable to doubtful on the report.

Thomas injured his quad early in Oklahoma’s win over Tennessee in the process of returning Joey Aguilar’s fumble all the way back to the end zone for a touchdown.

Williams hasn’t featured since he exited on the first drive of OU’s win over South Carolina.

Running back Jovantae Barnes and offensive guard Heath Ozaeta were both ruled out for the contest, as was defensive back Kendel Dolby. This marked the first time all week that Dolby appeared on the availability report.

OU was already going to be without offensive linemen Troy Everett, Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor, who have been ruled out of every SEC contest this year.

Running backs Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock did not appear on the availability report, though it’s unclear if either back will be 100 percent on Saturday.

Robinson had to go to the injury tent in the second half against Alabama, and while he did return to the game, he was not as effective late.

As a result, OU coach Brent Venables said the Sooners will have to lean on the depth of the offense to keep the rushing game going against Missouri.

“It’s going to be tested, no question,” Venables said. “So hopeful we can stay healthy and we’re probably going to spread it out a little more to kind of manage the next few weeks.”

The Sooners and the Tigers will meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Owen Field, and the contest will be broadcast on ABC.

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