The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BUDDY Hield and the No.3-ranked Oklahoma Sooners are reeling after three losses in their last four games and their first two-game losing streak of the season.

The Sooners fell 65-63 to the unranked Texas Red Raiders on Wednesday night at the United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Grand Bahamian Hield scored 16 points on 6-16 shooting and added six rebounds as the Sooners fell to 20-5 win-loss, 8-5 in the Big 12.

It was his second lowest scoring game of the season, following a 12-point outing against Wisconsin.

After a 12-point first half, Hield scored just four points in the second half and went 0-5 from beyond the arch. The Sooners trailed by three at the half in a game that featured 14 ties and 15 lead changes.

Oklahoma led 61-57 with 2 min 45 secs left to play, but the Red Raiders responded with a five-point run to take the lead for good. Hield missed a contested jumper on the next possession and Texas Tech made free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Sooners’ Ryan Spangler missed a layup on the final possession before the Red Raiders faithful rushed the floor. Oklahoma beat the Red Raiders 91-67 in the first matchup between the teams last month.

On the final play of the game, the Red Raiders hounded Hield as he looked for the ball above the three point line, forcing the Sooners play calling to adjust on the fly.

“Well, I was looking for Buddy coming off of a flare screen there,” Sooners head coach Lon Kruger said. “They switched out on it. If they did that, then Isaiah [Cousins] had the alley, which broke open decently for him. I think he was trying to pass it.

“I was kind of blocked there for a moment. I thought he was trying to pass it to the rim, but we didn’t finish it. Everyone’s got to work hard, and Tech did that guarding Buddy [Hield]. He had a few opportunities that didn’t go. Then, other times he was guarded really well. Tech did a good job of staying into him and staying after him.”

The Sooners were ranked No.1 before losses to Kansas State, Kansas and now Texas Tech this month.

“It was a tough game all night long. You know, there wasn’t much margin either way throughout the night. I thought Tech really fought hard and did a good job and made plays they needed to down the stretch. [Tech] got rebounds down the stretch. [We] gave up way too many possessions down there in the last few possessions. [We] can’t afford to do that. We played really well. We played with a lot of confidence. We’ve got to bounce back and figure out how to do

better ourselves.”

Hield is now three points shy of scoring 2,000 in his Sooner career and becoming the sixth Sooner to pass that mark.

The Sooners will be back on the road again when they travel to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday at 4pm, televised live on ESPN.