Texas A&M 65, OU 62: Thoughts and observations
Tuesday night had to frustrate Oklahoma for plenty of reasons. The most frustrating aspect might have been playing by far their best game on the road and not being able to produce a win with that performance.
That said, the players didn’t look to be completely crushed after the game or angry at the loss. Not saying that’s a bad thing.
It’ll be interesting to see what they look like physically and emotionally against Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday.
A couple notes from the box score:
- Oklahoma was outshot 62.5 percent to 35 percent in the first half and only trailed by 10. Earlier in the season, if that had been the case, they might have been down 15-20.
- The game finished with 40 fouls, but 13 of those came in (I believe, but my notes are trapped elsewhere) the first seven minutes of the first half. Generally, I hate it when anyone complains about officiating, but I thought Tuesday’s game was somewhat inconsistent. Touch fouls on the perimeter and on entry passes were being whistled on one possession, and a player would get mauled by a defender on the way to the hoop and get no whistle on the next.
(Full disclosure: I got my officiating degree from the Let ‘Em Play School of Refereeing, so maybe I’m biased.) I didn’t think it necessarily swung the game either way, just thought it was inconsistent.
But, it’s never a good sign when, in a game that wasn’t that physical, two guys foul out and four others have four fouls.
Other thoughts:
- Not sure what was wrong with Steven Pledger. He had a really bad miss from the top of the key in the first half, airballed another 3 and missed a wide-open look from the right corner on a nice dish from Tommy Mason-Griffin late in the game. Finished 0-for-5, and didn’t score in 21 minutes. Surprising after a really solid game against Missouri after Tony Crocker’s injury forced him to play 38 minutes. He really just looked uncomfortable for most of the night. Maybe just a freshman pure shooter in the most intimidating atmosphere OU has played in this season on a goal he was unfamiliar with. Who knows.
