The Jayhawks and their fans may feel all high and mighty because the victory in this epic game was ultimately recorded on their side of the ledger, but I can guarantee you, they won’t have to work harder for a win than they did on Monday in their own building and in front of 16,000 of their closest followers.
Almost no one other than my eagle-eyed colleague Luke Winn noticed, but this game nearly ended on a six-man technical foul on Kansas in the first overtime.
I suspect we’ll remember the Kansas-Oklahoma game forever. In fact, the Sooners proved they are one of the two best teams in the country along with Kansas.
THREE OTS: This was the second 1 vs. 2 matchup to go three overtimes and Kansas was in both.
The Big 12 matchup between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Oklahoma Sooners was going to be a big matchup when the game was first scheduled between two of the favorites in the conference. OU rebounded and KU was called for an over the back foul with two seconds left.
Senior forward Ryan Spangler countered with 14 points and a game-high 18 rebounds for Oklahoma. They are led by an enviable three-headed guard rotation of Mason III, Selden Jr. and Graham, and senior forward Perry Ellis is a sleeper player of the year candidate.
Jordan Woodard hit 6 three-pointers and had 27 points for the Sooners, who were trying to extend their best start in 28 yards. What a game we saw last night between the #1 Kansas Jayhawks and the #2 Oklahoma Sooners. Back for his final go-around in Ann Arbor, the 6-foot-7 OH native will display a terrific floor game with the rare opportunity to average 15-5-5 if he can remain healthy. KU would not score on their possession and the Sooners then took a one-point lead on a Lattin jumper. But there have only been five such meetings since the turn of the century, and one of those was the 2005 national title game when North Carolina beat IL.
Selden scored five points in the third overtime to complement Mason’s two steals in the last 20 seconds to give Kansas the win. Hield was 13 of 23 from the field with eight 3-pointers. Kansas coach Bill Self, who was already in the ear of the official when the foul was called, BLEW UP, and got a quick technical foul. “We knew he was going to be a good player, but he was great”.
KU didn’t stop Hield much at all (obviously), though I thought Mason did a solid job on him in the second half – even after Mason picked up his fourth foul, which happened with 22 seconds left in regulation.
Oklahoma (12-0) is No. 2, SMU (13-0) is No. 15 and SC (13-0) is No. 22. In one of the best college basketball games you’ll see in the regular season, Oklahoma rallied from an 11-point deficit in the first half to go on an 18-6 run in the last 4:42 until halftime. West Virginia is ranked 17th after a 12-1 start.
Wichita’s Perry Ellis led the Jayhawks with 27 points, while Sunrise Christian product, Buddy Hield was beyond stellar for the Sooners with 46 points off of 23 shots.
“I want it bad”, Hield said. I’m guessing that’s because a ton of people tuned in for all or part of the overtimes.
OU’s Isaiah Cousins struggled, making 2 of 14 shots and finishing with 4 points.
Kansas and Oklahoma traded a trio of 3-pointers to open the second overtime.
