Oklahoma basketball: Second-half comeback lifts Iowa State past OU

Together, it produced a 73-66 loss to Iowa State on Thursday in Sprint Center.

“It’s probably the most frustrating thing ever,” senior point guard Sam Grooms said. “We don’t finish the game out after we play so well and do everything we were supposed to do. That’s probably the most hurtful part of it.”

The game Thursday looked familiar. As Oklahoma began to blow a 12-point lead with 7:18 remaining, it was reminiscent of Feb. 27, when the Sooners gave up a 22-point advantage to Texas with less than eight minutes in the game. The Sooners lost that one in overtime.

Then last Saturday, OU’s defense didn’t even show up for the first half, and that allowed TCU to build a 25-point lead. The Sooners eventually cut the deficit to one but still failed to pull out a victory.

On Thursday, despite sticking to the game plan — grabbing rebounds, waiting for the right shot and maintaining a strong lead that they built to 14 — the Sooners’ defense shied away from the post in the second half.

OU forwards Osby and Amath M’Baye were often found guarding the perimeter. Iowa State counter-attacked that by doing what they’re not known for: scoring in the paint.

The Cyclones had more points in the paint (36-18), more second chance points (18-11), more rebounds (43-31) and a better game from the floor (26-of-61 compared to OU's 24-of-63).

“Last time we played them at home, they didn’t shoot it really well the entire game,” Osby said. “I knew they wouldn’t just come out and not shoot it well. Eventually, they were going to come out and get shots to go down. I expected it and it ended up happening.”