Closer Look

Sooners' Ere hits the shot that breaks Arizona's back

Oklahoma's Ebi Ere, here defending Arizona's Luke Walton, finished with 14 points. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

By Steve Rivera, Special to CNNSI.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- He’s Ebi Ere. As you might have guessed, it rhymes with "awe."

It was his 3-pointer with 11:40 left in the game that all but got Oklahoma going in the second half, giving the Sooners a 51-44 lead in the West regional semifinals.

What it did was punctuate a game-saving 11-0 run to help give the Sooners an 88-67 win over the No. 3 seed Arizona Wildcats here at the Compaq Center.

For the Oklahoma Sooners, it was their crowning moment in the game. For Arizona, it was their drowning moment.

"That was a big shot," said Jason Detrick. “We needed him to get going, but that right there helped us break away. It really got him going."

To that point, Ere had just three points, zero in the first half. Eri, a junior, finished with 14, hitting 5 of 9 shots in the second half. He went 0-for-5 in the first half.

“That shot just killed us," said UA’s Rick Anderson. "They went up by seven and the momentum just switched on us. We got in trouble."

Oklahoma can thank Ere, who has had been able to get Oklahoma going all season. He went into the game averaging 14.5 points a game. He had been shooting 33.1 percent from the three-point line for the season. He finished 2 for 7 from the 3-point line for the game. But on Thursday night, he was all but calm about the shot.

“That three, I guess, was big," he said. “It kind of inspired the team. It was key because in the first half we weren’t hitting our threes [OU was actually 7 for 18 from beyond the arc].’’

So was it another day at the office?

“That’s how you got to be," Ere said. "You can’t panic because if you do when you panic it leads to turnovers."

Instead, it led for Arizona’s downfall. And OU’s rise.

But OU’s players have seen it before in big games. Earlier this week, they saw a tape of their 72-56 win over Maryland. In that game, Ere hit three treys and finished with 19 points. But it was his 3s that helped in a big win.

“He hits big shots," said Detrick. "I remember the shot against Maryland. We watched that tape a couple of days ago and it was great. He’s just a big shot guy."

Said Ere: "Is that what he said? It was key and it gave us a nice lead."

And the eventual victory.

 

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