Oklahoma
Report Card: Oklahoma lets late lead slip away, falling 82-79 to LSU
Report Card: Oklahoma lets late lead slip away, falling 82-79 to LSU
With 24 seconds left, the Sooners led LSU by five points. Surely they close it out, right?
Wrong. Instead of finding a way to win, Porter Moser’s squad found a way to lose — marking, without question, the worst loss of his four-year tenure at Oklahoma.
Cam Carter delivered the dagger for LSU, scoring the key baskets in the final moments to complete the comeback. He finished with 29 points on 10-17 shooting from the field and 5-10 from beyond the arc. Damion Collins was a major problem for Oklahoma as well, adding 22 points on 8-10 shooting and knocking down a three.
Despite leading by as many as 13 in the second half — and holding a five-point lead with 24 seconds left — the Sooners couldn’t put the Tigers away, letting what should have been a surefire win slip through their fingers.
Here’s the Report Card from the 82-79 collapse that dropped Oklahoma to 16-9 (3-9):
The Final Minute: F-minus
With 24 seconds left, LSU took a timeout. Out of the break, Carter knocked down a three-pointer and drew a foul on Jalon Moore, turning a 79-74 Oklahoma lead into a 79-78 game with 20 seconds left.
Then, Moore turned it over on the inbounds, leading to a Carter layup despite getting fouled by Duke Miles. After the made free throw, LSU led 81-79 with eight seconds remaining.
On Friday, Moser talked a lot about eliminating “slippage” — unnecessary mistakes like turnovers and bad fouls. In the final 30 seconds, Oklahoma committed both, plus the inexplicable mistake of fouling a three-point shooter while up five.
There was plenty of “slippage” on display in the final minute, resulting in a brutal collapse.
Starting Five: F-plus
Fears finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and five turnovers in 31 minutes, shooting 5-15 from the field and 2-5 from three. He had some strong moments offensively but was inconsistent overall and plagued by turnovers.
Moore added 14 points and seven rebounds, going 3-10 from the field but a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Despite his production, his late-game mistakes played a major role in Oklahoma’s collapse.
Miles contributed 12 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists on an efficient 2-3 shooting from the field and 8-8 from the line. Brycen Goodine chipped in seven points, shooting 3-6 overall and 1-4 from deep.
Sam Godwin finished with seven points and seven rebounds but had a costly missed layup in the second half that resulted in a six-point swing — one of many critical errors for the Sooners.
Ultimately, while players like Fears and Miles had bright spots, the late-game mistakes from key contributors doomed Oklahoma in the end.
Bench: C-minus
The Sooners put their trust in Dayton Forsythe down the stretch, and he delivered with key plays. He hit a turnaround jumper to give Oklahoma a three-point lead with just over a minute remaining before the Sooners ultimately collapsed.
Forsythe finished with eight points, four rebounds, and zero turnovers, shooting 2-5 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line in 18 minutes of action.
Kobe Elvis had some nice moments in the first half but played just three minutes in the second. He finished with eight points on 4-9 shooting but struggled from deep, going 0-3.
Mohamed Wague also contributed solid minutes, scoring seven points on a perfect 3-3 from the field.
Three-Point Shooting: F-minus
The Sooners struggled mightily from beyond the arc, shooting just 3-18 (16.7%). Jeremiah Fears accounted for two of those makes, while Brycen Goodine hit the other.
It’s nearly impossible to win an SEC game shooting that poorly from deep, yet Oklahoma still had every opportunity to close it out. That, more than anything, highlights why LSU entered this game with a 1-10 conference record.
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Oklahoma
Did Oklahoma Stay Atop the Polls After Tumultuous Week?
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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Oklahoma
Putnam City West moves to virtual learning after student incident
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.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma launches program letting adults use past credits, test scores to earn diplomas
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.
For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.
“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.
Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.
“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.
The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.
CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.
“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.
The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.
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