Oklahoma squared off with TCU with an array of possibilities for their postseason. OU could finish anywhere between a three and a seven seed for the Big 12 Tournament as well as bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes.
OU got off to an extremely slow start on senior day. Desmond Bane, who was the lone Frog celebrating the event, played like it was his last game at home.
He hit a pair of three’s a few layups and helped extend TCU’s halftime lead to 18. He had 19 in the first half. OU’s saving grace that half was Austin Reaves. He dropped 16 of OU’s 26 points.
In the second half, the Sooners, who once trailed by 20, had TCU right where they wanted them.
Krisitian Doolittle hit a pair of three pointers to pull OU to within seven with under ten to play. Doolittle finished with 15. He was the only other Sooner in double figures besides Reaves.
With 1:30 to play, Reaves hit a tough three plus a foul. That cut the TCU lead to three. Then under a minute to go, Brady Manek knocked down the second of his two made buckets all game to tie it at 76.
And after a stop, the Sooners gave the ball to Austin Reaves and let him go to work. And he did just that nailing a midrange jumper giving OU a 78-76 lead with .5 seconds left to play.
A desperation three by TCU from halfcourt missed and all the sudden, OU’s lead for just .5 of a second propelled them from being a seven seed and made them a three seed with that 78-76 win.
Reaves propelled the biggest road comeback win, 20 points, in Big 12 history. He finished 12-23 from the field, 15-16 from the free throw line en route to a 41 point career high performance.
With the win OU bolsters their NCAA Tournament hopes and is the three seed in the Big 12 Tourney. They face West Virginia, a team they swept in the regular season, Thursday night at 8:30 pm.
