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Stats: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121812aaa.html
Photos: http://www.soonersports.com/view.gal?id=131645
Notes: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/121812aaa.html
Quotes: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/121812aac.html
Stats: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/121812aaa.html
Photos: http://www.soonersports.com/view.gal?id=131645
Notes: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/121812aaa.html
Team Notes
Stephen F. Austin snapped Oklahoma's 36-game non-conference home winning streak with a 56-55 victory. The Lumberjacks were also the last team to beat the Sooners in non-conference action at Lloyd Noble Center (66-62 on Dec. 8, 2007). SFA improved to 8-1 while OU fell to 7-3.
OU freshman guard Buddy Hield missed a potential game-tying free throw with 3.9 seconds remaining after making the first of two attempts. His potential game-tying field goal attempt (on which he got fouled) nearly crawled over the front of the rim before rolling off.
SFA extended its streak of holding opponents under 70 points to 41 games. OU shot .379 from the field and .214 from 3-point range (3-for-14).
SFA senior point guard Hal Bateman scored a career-high 13 points and handed out 9 assists without committing a turnover. He was 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line (entered game with respective shooting marks of .364 and .417).
OU led 30-26 at halftime but Stephen F. Austin opened the second half with a 21-6 run to take a 47-36 lead with 11:04 remaining. The Sooners responded with a 16-4 run to go ahead 52-51 with 4:40 left. Bateman broke a 54-54 tie by hitting two free throws with 1:04 remaining, the last points before Hield's free throw attempts with 3.9 seconds left.
Guards Je'lon Hornbeak and Steven Pledger were the only Sooners who scored in double figures, each finishing with 12 points. Hornbeak made a career-high three 3-pointers on five attempts and handed out three of OU's six assists. Pledger entered the game shooting .417 from 3-point range but finished 0-for-6 tonight. He was 6-for-8 from 2-point range.
Hield netted 9 points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds (6 offensive). Twenty-three of his 42 rebounds this year have come on the offensive end (55 percent).
Senior forward Romero Osby averaged 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds the previous two outings but was held to 8 points and 3 rebounds. He was limited to 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
Senior point guard Sam Grooms did not play due to injury.
Oklahoma became the first team to outrebound Stephen F. Austin in 19 games. OU posted a 38-37 advantage on the glass. Both teams grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
After recording no points off of OU's 7 first-half turnovers, Stephen F. Austin racked up 12 points on the Sooners' 6 second-half turnovers. OU finished with 13 turnovers (7 fewer than SFA opponents averaged entering the game).
The Sooners' bench outscored SFA's 19-10. OU's reserves have been outscored just twice in 10 games.
The Lumberjacks posted a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint.
OU is off until Dec. 29 when it hosts 2012 NCAA Tournament participant (Sweet 16) Ohio at 7 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center.
Quotes: http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/121812aac.html
Head Coach Lon Kruger ||||||||||||||||||||||
Opening comment:
"Well, in this ball game I thought Stephen F. Austin did a terrific job. We can't be pleased with the result and recognize a lot of areas where we must do a better job on both ends of the floor. This drives home that point pretty hard. This is a good group of guys, and we will work on it and get better - keep making progress. We have a couple days of practice here over break and then we will come back on the 29th going into the holidays. I thought there late we made a good effort to get back in the ball game. Again, I am not pleased with the result. Buddy (Hield) makes a strong play to try and get to the rim, and no one is more disappointed at this point than he is, but he will bounce back and shoot even more free throws in practice - no one works harder at that than Buddy. He will bounce back and be fine."
On the start of the second half:
"We didn't have much pop there at the start of the second half. We turned it over a couple of times on the offensive end - then they got to the rim a couple of times and shot layups on the other end; not the way you want to start the second half. We made a decent run at the end of the first half to create a little bit of a margin and then gave it away the second half."
"Again, every possession has to be a lot more important in terms of our execution, commitment and competitiveness and all of that. We just have to keep working at it. We don't quite understand what it takes, but that's why you play and why you work every day at practice and try to get better."
On Romero Osby's third foul:
"Roe's (Romero Osby) a guy that we love to have on the floor and when he is in trouble with fouls that makes a difference for sure - but, that is all a part of the game too. We have to compensate for that and the other guys have to step up there and play their minutes. We would prefer to have Roe out there as much as we can."
On the Sooners' struggle on offense:
"Stephen F. is a tough club, and, again, we haven't performed smoothly offensively very often over the year. We've got to keep working at that. We have to find something that is going to give us to a little bit more activity - more attack. There were opportunities early in the ballgame to attack where we just didn't finish. We've got to get stuff that will continue to go downhill just a little bit - going to the rim and shooting shots in better rhythm. When you don't shoot as well, it is partially due to the defense doing a good job too."
On the Sooners' physicality:
"We just have to execute things better. We have to set better screens, use screens better relative to contact. We just have to have execution in general. Getting bodies on people is just a part of the execution at times."
On Amath M'Baye's struggles:
"We know he's got the skill and the ability to perform at a much higher level than normal, and no one is more frustrated by it than Amath (M'Baye). He is in there all the time. It'll happen for him, and everyone wanted it and he expected it to happen more quickly, and that is a little bit frustrating as a result. But still, the only thing to do is to keep investing and working, and there is no question that Amath will do that."
Senior F Romero Osby |||||||||||||||||||||||
On what was going through his mind at the moment:
"I'm just frustrated with myself. I tried to tell Buddy (Hield) not to worry about the free throws, because we shouldn't have put him in that situation. I just don't think we played well as a team defensively like we wanted to. We can't blame anybody but ourselves. I think that's what I'm most frustrated about, that Stephen F. Austin gets to walk out of here with their heads held high; to come into a BCS team's gym and beat them. That keeps hitting home with me now. That's what I've been thinking about; just frustrated."
On having to sit on the bench with foul trouble:
"It was frustrating because you want to be out there helping your team, but I really couldn't dwell on that much; I was trying to cheer on my guys. I know (Andrew) Fitzgerald's experience, Amath's (M'Baye) experience, and Steven's (Pledger) experience -- guys like that -- I knew they would be able to take care of their jobs. It's just unfortunate I had to sit on the sidelines watching the whole time."
Senior G Steven Pledger |||||||||||||||||||||||
On getting the team back into the game in the second half from inside the arc:
"I just wanted to get mid-range shots that get everybody going. When I started hitting shots, started coming back, it got everybody else in it more. When I do that, I know the team's going to follow suit. I was just trying to hit shots, for the team, basically."
Freshman G Buddy Hield |||||||||||||||||||||||
On the game's final play:
"Coach Kruger drew up a play where I reject the ball screen, which I did, and I saw the opening and I drove to the rim. I thought it was an and-one, but the ball came out; it just didn't bounce my way. Then going to the (free throw) line, I was focused but just shot the (second) one too hard. It's a frustrating moment right now for me. Being in the gym shooting free throws all day and shooting jump shots, you expect a player like me to hit those free throws.
"It's a letdown to me, but we could have done certain things to win that ballgame -- like me sliding my feet better, boxing out on a few key possessions that cost us the basketball game. We need to improve as a basketball team and don't take any team for granted."
On what Amath M'Baye said to him after the game:
"He said to keep my head up, don't worry if anybody said anything and not to get down on myself; that I'm a good basketball player, it's everybody's fault, not my fault. Just a frustrating moment for me right now."
