OU 62, OSU 57 (OT): Thoughts and observations
Maybe the best sign from Monday’s win was Willie Warren‘s determination. He didn’t play great, but he made several plays late when the Sooners needed them.
Those plays are even more impressive after the stretch he had early in the second half. Warren turned the ball over three times in a little over two minutes early in the second half and, visibly frustrated, got pulled for a few minutes.
After getting stripped on a fast break around the 10-minute mark, he didn’t turn the ball over again, and kept attacking the basket. He got to the free throw line a lot late in regulation, scored on a driving layup to put OU up five with under a minute to play, and got Tiny Gallon an easy layup to put OU up three in overtime.
“That’s his strength,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said.
Capel has repeatedly stressed that almost every time things have gone badly, his team has crumbled. Warren’s stretch of turnovers might have been the worst he’s played all season. He followed it up with some of his best play.
It’s only one game, so it’s hard to say things have definitively changed, but at least he showed he has the capability to bounce back after he plays poorly.
Capel’s mainly wants to see effort all the time from his best players. He knows they won’t play well all the time, and no one did tonight, but the effort was definitely there. Warren definitely showed it, even if the Sooners hadn’t come away with the win.
* Tommy Mason-Griffin is developing very quickly. Over the last four games, he has 21 assists and two turnovers. He’s also shooting 42 percent (8-of-19) from 3-point range.
“To play 43 minutes without a turnover with that kind of pressure is good,” Capel said.
He’s distributing the ball and knocking down shots when he needs to – exactly what good point guards do.
* I’m not sure I’ve seen a team consistently come away with clean strips on guys elevating like OSU did tonight. The crowd was complaining on a lot of those calls, and a few were probably fouls, but plenty were just great plays by guys with nice hands. No one’s done that to OU all season.
* A perfect storm produced by far the most emotional game for Oklahoma this season. It was a close, rough, up and down game against a rival and they avoided an 0-2 hole in conference play. Overtime always makes things more intense, and OU released a lot of the frustration that’s been building while they’ve struggled to go 1-3 in the past four games.
