Coming of age

Sooners catching up with Jayhawks in Big 12 supremacy

NORMAN, Okla. -- For the Oklahoma Sooners, beating Oklahoma State means conquering Bedlam and beating Texas means navigating the Red River.

But beating Kansas represents something even bigger.

“They’re the Duke of our conference,” Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said earlier this week.

In that case, Oklahoma must be Maryland. Because while the Jayhawks may have the richer history, the Sooners of today have become every bit their Big 12 equal.

Sunday at the Lloyd Noble Center -- in what some locals were calling OU’s biggest home game in more than a decade -- the fifth-ranked Sooners nearly humiliated sixth-ranked Kansas, going up by 32, then nearly blew it, watching their lead eventually dwindle to five before winning their 36th consecutive home game 77-70.

In doing so, they vaulted into a first-place tie with the Jayhawks headed into the final two weeks of the regular season, while delivering a statement to the rest of college basketball that last year’s Final Four appearance may have been only the beginning for Sampson and Co.

“If you want to be best team in the Big 12 every year, you’ve got to beat Kansas,” said Sampson, whose team has eliminated Kansas in each of the past two conference tournaments. “Kansas has set the standard for this conference and will continue to do so. At the same time, Oklahoma basketball is getting pretty good.”

No one’s suggesting a complete revolution here. Kansas, you may recall, was also in Atlanta last April and beat the Sooners in Lawrence as part of its remarkable 16-0 conference regular season.

But despite what their 20-6 record might indicate, this year’s Jayhawks, unlike 19-4 Oklahoma, haven’t proven they’re capable of reaching New Orleans.

With the exception of a 90-87 win over Texas, in which Nick Collison played the game of his life, most of the marquee opponents on their schedule -- Florida, Oregon, Arizona and now Oklahoma -- have lured them into horrible shooting nights. Kirk Hinrich, one half of the Jayhawks’ touted senior tandem, was magnificent against the Sooners with 21 points, but Collison struggled against Oklahoma’s bevy of big men, shooting 1-of-9 in the first half, 5-of-18 for the game.

The Sooners’ own excellent one-two punch gets about half as much press but delivers every bit as well.

In what has become almost a routine the past few years, Hollis Price and Quannas White combined to hit 7-of-9 3-pointers and score 19 points each against Kansas. The Player of the Year candidate Price has scored at least 17 points in 17 of OU’s past 19 contests, while White has stepped up his scoring to 15.2 points per game over his past six contests.

“Someone asked me what I liked about Hollis and I said it was his heart. I would have to say he’s my favorite player in the 15 years I’ve been in this league,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “Another player who doesn’t get enough credit is Quannas White. I would love to have him on my team.”

Then combined with solid offensive contributions from Ebi Ere, Kevin Bookout and, for eight impressive minutes Sunday before he got injured, Jabahri Brown, it becomes awfully hard to beat Oklahoma because more than likely the Sooners also are shutting you down on defense. Kansas was just the second opponent this season to reach 70 points against them.

“Oklahoma’s team defense is extremely impressive and their team offense gets the ball to the people who should take the shots,” Williams said. “Most of the time, they make them.”

The Sooners have reached the NCAA Tournament every season since Sampson’s arrival in 1994, but they’ve clearly stepped it up a notch the past four years -- not coincidentally, the Price/White/Ere era -- notching 27, 26 and, in last year’s Final Four campaign, 31 wins.

This team, like those, is playing its best basketball at the end of the season.

There was certainly reason for concern back in November and December when the Sooners -- who came into the year having to replace the departed double-double machine Aaron McGhee -- suffered somewhat ugly losses to Alabama and Mississippi State.

Conference season has been a different story, though, with close road losses at Oklahoma State and Texas their only blemishes. In addition to Kansas, OU has beaten Connecticut, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech (twice), and a rematch with Texas awaits March 8.

During a timeout with 3:33 remaining and the outcome becoming apparent Sunday, a P.A. announcement asked fans for their cooperation in staying off the court afterward. It probably wasn’t necessary.

You only storm the court when you’re not expected to win.

Stewart Mandel covers college sports for SI.com.

 

Related information

Stories

No. 5 Oklahoma holds off surge by No. 6 Kansas Mandel: Even in defeat, Texas shows heart Okla. State drops No. 3 Texas, back in Big 12 race

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video