SoonerHoop Report: Reliving an all-time OU win in Bedlam
OU guard Javian McCollum was pretty subdued in the postgame press conference. As subdued as you can get after just making Bedlam history.
He was giving credit to his teammates and the coaching staff for having that faith in him. After missing his initial seven 3-point attempts, McCollum drained his final two.
Think we all know what that second one was, an all-timer 3-pointer at the buzzer to win Bedlam 84-82 in overtime at Oklahoma State on Saturday.
But Sunday? There ya go. McCollum officially changed his social media profile picture to the photo of him taking the shot to win the ‘final’ Bedlam.
A game so good, a win so important, it deserves a second look. And that’s what SoonerScoop did with a special version of the SoonerHoop Report.
Bob Przybylo, Eddie Radosevich and George Stoia breaking down the Bedlam double from Saturday as the OU women trounced OSU on Saturday in Norman. The OU women host No. 3 Texas on Wednesday night and can clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season championship.
Top Five from Bedlam
Soares stops the bleeding
Oh, we’re telling the story, basketball style. A week off and this is how OU is playing? It was a brutal first half. OSU was building the lead slowly but surely. The Sooners didn’t look to have any fight.
But Rivaldo Soares just kept coming. Bad ankle ‘n all, he just kept coming. With OSU having a 38-27 lead in the final minute, he nailed a 3-pointer to cut the margin to eight.
As poorly as OU looked, as lifeless as the team seemed, down eight? OK, can live with that. Just have to start the second half strong.
Four-point play to open second half
Which brings us here, and OU doing exactly that. The Sooners got the ball first to begin the second half, and Javian McCollum scored on a jumper. But Sam Godwin was fouled away from the ball. OU was given another possession, and Soares scored.
It went from 38-27 to 38-34 in a heartbeat. Message sent, game on at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Northweather’s moment
When you watch Bedlam again, just appreciate how everybody did their part. That includes Luke Northweather. Five points, four rebounds, one assist and a block. Doesn’t sound like much, but that’s an incredibly encouraging sign.
Another one? The 3-pointer Northweather buried from the corner to cut a 59-55 OSU advantage to 59-58. OU wasn’t going to go away in this one. Contributions were going to come from everywhere to get this victory.
Oweh gives OU the lead
But it didn’t look like Otega Oweh was going to have a part. Two points in the first half, benched to begin the second half. However, Oweh came alive. Doing the dirty work, the little things.
After Jalon Moore scored to make it OSU 68-67, he missed the and-1 free throw. Oweh maneuvered his way to get the offensive rebound and scored to give OU its first lead of the second half.
The Sooners had fought to get all the way back, and it was going to come down to the wire.
McCollum is your Bedlam hero
And McCollum.
What more needs to be said? Just over 12 seconds left in overtime, and it was McCollum’s game. Make it and win. Lose it and drop a third game in a row.
Well, we all know how it went down.
“I said, ‘Keep shooting.’ He took some really good ones in the first half, he just missed,” head coach Porter Moser said. “I think he missed his first five (Editor’s note: Seven). Just kept telling him, ‘keep shooting.’ I took him out, offense-defense on one play, I took my arms around him and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to come in and keep playing. You’re going to make a big play.’ Total confidence in him. Kept on telling to keep shooting.”
