Sooners Drop Fifth Straight In 69-58 Loss To Texas

Despite holding a five point advantage at halftime, the Sooners struggled in the second half and lost its fifth straight at the hands of rival Texas.

Tuesday, February 14th 2012, 10:31 pm

By: News 9


The Texas Longhorns put together a productive second half to top Oklahoma 69-58, handing the Sooners its fifth-straight loss.

Texas broke down the Sooner defense in the second and forced 13 OU turnovers that the Longhorns turned into 21 points at the other end.

In addition, UT's J'Covan Brown, who leads the Big 12 in scoring, found his rhythm to lead all scorers with 19 points and three rebounds on the night.

Oklahoma didn't see its normal production from starters Andrew Fitzgerald and Steven Pledger who each only had four points by the half. Fitzgerald had to take a seat early on after being whistled for two fouls in the first four minutes.

Thankfully for the Sooners Cameron Clarke and Tyler Neal carried the Sooners in the first half. Clarke led all scorers with 11 points and four rebounds at the break.

Oklahoma was able to capitalize on Texas' poor shooting in the first to lead 33-28 at halftime. Texas was held to just 1-of-10 shooting from 3-point range and a 33 percent from the field. In the first, OU converted 40.6 percent from field goal range and made 3-of-8 from behind the arc.

The Sooners early lead was quickly silenced as Texas came out of the gate in the second to score seven unanswered points and take a 35-33 lead.

Brown, who netted only four points in the first, came alive in the second to hit three 3-point shots and quickly give Texas the advantage.

Oklahoma had opportunities offensively, but committed 10 of their 13 turnovers in the second which allowed Texas to hold the advantage for the remainder of the game.

The Sooners found a little spark late in the game and cut the deficit to six with six minutes remaining. But that is as close as OU would get as they could never get enough defensive stops or offensive fire power to get over the hump.

In the end, Texas out-powered the Sooners in most categories. Most importantly in points off the bench with 23 to OU's eight, points in the paint with 22 while the Sooners scored 12.

Oklahoma had better shooting percentages on the night with 41.7 shooting from the floor while UT shot only 38 percent.

Pledger led Oklahoma with 19 points and five rebounds followed by 13 points each by Romero Osby and Clark.

Texas' Myck Kobango netted 13 points and five rebounds while Sheldon McClellan came off the bench to add 13 points and five rebounds in one of his best performances of the season.

The loss drops the Sooners to 3-10 in conference play and 13-12 overall while Texas improves to 17-9 on the season and 7-6 in Big 12 competition.

The Sooners next travel to Iowa State on Saturday to face the Cyclones at 12:30 p.m.

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