Oklahoma basketball was on a hot streak for almost all of February as it clawed its way through the very competitive Big 12 Conference. After shining against their toughest competition in the conference with only unranked teams left going into the NCAA Tournament, it seems the Sooners have started to lull out.
On Tuesday night, the Sooners took on the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan. With K-State sitting second from the bottom in the Big 12, some fans expected the seventh-ranked Sooners to tear through Manhattan and then just… head home. Unfortunately for OU, this wasn’t the case at all.
After struggling to beat the worst team in the Big 12 last week, some were apprehensive of the fact that this Sooner team, who seems to be excelling this season, cannot stay consistent.
The Sooners’ trip to Manhattan, Kansas did not go as planned for Oklahoma basketball, losing to the Wildcats 62-57. The score was close, which would usually make the loss less painful. However, this loss marks Sooners’ ninth straight loss in Kansas to K-State. Even worse, this loss will ultimately affect Oklahoma’s seed number for March Madness.
Due to the major roadblock of losing to Kansas State, the projected No. 2 seed in the bracket is now projected to fall to a three seed. What is so frustrating for Oklahoma basketball is the fact that it was capable of taking down a number of highly ranked teams just to inevitably fall to one of the worst teams in their conference. (Sound familiar? This may give you flashbacks to the beginning of OU football’s season).
Nonetheless, the Sooners are still in the tournament, which is a positive, and OU basketball still has the opportunity to make up for this devastating loss in its last three conference games of the season. However, on the negative side, this also means that the Sooners need to win their last three games to at least remain where they are in the current bracket projection. Winning out sounds Ideal for the Sooners but will be no easy feat.
The only three games Oklahoma basketball has left are against its two biggest rivals. The Sooners will take play unranked Oklahoma State, a team they have yet to meet this season, followed by a rescheduled game against the University of Texas, who has been highly praised this season but did fall to the Sooners earlier in conference play.
With conference play coming to a close, it is important for the Sooners to lock back in after their loss and continue to play as a cohesive team, something we have seen improve significantly this season compared to last.
Oklahoma basketball will take the court again this Saturday at home at 3 p.m. ET and will also be shown on ABC for the fans at home.
Photo courtesy of KStateSports.com
