National Basketball Association
Oklahoma 57, Houston Baptist 40
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma
Officials:
# Marques Pettigrew, # Kipp Kissinger, # Brooks Wells
Attendance:
5828
By Field Level Media
Elijah Harkless had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead Oklahoma to a 57-40 win over Houston Baptist on Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners scored 32 points on the Huskies' 21 turnovers. It was the most turnovers forced by Oklahoma since December 2017.
Early on, the Sooners struggled to take advantage of Houston Baptist's turnovers.
That changed in the second half, though.
The Sooners trailed at the break but turned up the heat defensively to start the second half, as the Huskies came up empty on their first 11 possessions out of the break.
Houston Baptist turned the ball over six times and missed their first seven shots of the second half as Oklahoma scored the first 18 points after the break to stretch their overall run to 22-0 to break the game open.
After making just 1 of 12 from behind the arc in the first half, the Sooners' offense got going by making four of their first six 3-point tries after the break.
Oklahoma outscored the Sooners 35-13 after halftime.
The Huskies were just 5 of 27 from the floor after halftime after starting the half 2-for-22.
Houston Baptist was looking for its first nonconference win over a Division I opponent since 2018.
The Huskies made a push, with a 15-2 run over a six-minute stretch late in the first half to go ahead by nine.
Oklahoma (5-1) missed 6 of 7 during the Houston Baptist run, including five from beyond the arc.
It was a continuation of a recent theme for the Sooners, who took a stretch of ill-advised 3-pointers late in Sunday's loss to Utah State at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Oklahoma spread it around early in the second half, though, with 3-pointers from Umoja Gibson, Tanner Groves, C.J. Noland and Jordan Goldwire over the first seven minutes.
After shooting 3 of 7 in the first half with no assists, Goldwire focused more on distributing after the break, going 2 for 3 from the field with three assists in the second half.
Zion Tordoff led the Huskies (1-4) with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Houston Baptist's bench was just 3-for-18 from the floor, being outscored by the Sooners' bench 21-10.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Houston Baptist |
|
Oklahoma |
|
Zion Tordoff 11 |
Scoring |
Elijah Harkless 13 |
|
Za-Ontay Boothman 2 |
Assists |
Jordan Goldwire 3 |
|
Darius Lee 8 |
Rebounds |
Elijah Harkless 9 |
|
Zach Iyeyemi 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Elijah Harkless 4 |
|
Zion Tordoff 2 |
Steals |
Umoja Gibson 2 |
|
Jason Thompson 1 |
Blocks |
Jordan Goldwire 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Houston Baptist
|
40 |
34.8 |
2-13 |
6-10 |
7 |
31 |
1 |
6 |
21 |
| Oklahoma
|
57 |
37.5 |
5-25 |
10-13 |
11 |
30 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
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