Nate Kotisso is a Big 12 microsite writer for Rush The Court. He covered Oklahoma-Texas in Austin last night. You can follow him on Twitter @natekotisso.
We are four days into the start of Big 12 play, so naturally, now is the time to make quick declarations on how the conference will ultimately shake out. Until we make new ones on Saturday, that is. The box score will tell you that the Sooners played their most complete game of the season against one of their toughest opponents on Monday night. While it was an impressive victory, the reality is Oklahoma dominated Texas defensively in the first half and coasted in the second. The Sooners forced nine of Texas’ 12 turnovers, scored 11 points off those turnovers, outscored the Horns in the paint by 10, and held the Longhorns to 14 points total — all in the first 20 minutes. At the break, Texas was left with six players each making one field goal to account for their 6-of-30 shooting, while the Sooners’ Ryan Spangler and Buddy Hield equaled that number with three makes apiece. Their size advantage on Texas’ guards with Hield and Isaiah Cousins allowed the duo to shoot over them to the tune of 4-of-10 from the perimeter.
Texas guard Demarcus Holland attempts to grab the ball on this Longhorn possession. However, the game was out of UT’s reach as they lost by 21. (Brendan Maloney/USA Today Sports)
Another important piece to this game for Oklahoma was the emergence of TaShawn Thomas. It’s common knowledge that the addition of Thomas has strengthened the team’s defense to a level that hasn’t been seen during head coach Lon Kruger‘s tenure in Norman. Competing against the athletic size of Cameron Ridley, Jonathan Holmes, Prince Ibeh and Connor Lammert, Thomas posted 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds, four of them offensive. While not nearly as efficient on the offensive end, Thomas contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds and led all players in offensive rebounds (four), two blocked shots and one nasty dunk that thwarted any chance of a Longhorns’ comeback early in the second half. The Sooners seem to have Texas’ number of late, winning four of the last five games in the series. Oklahoma has also recorded wins in Austin in consecutive seasons for the first time since the program last did so during the 2000-02 seasons.
Thomas’ defensive prowess adds another scoring element to the team but the top returnees have made a serious commitment to defense. This gives Oklahoma an opportunity to become a very dangerous team when the calendar turns to March, even though their bench is unproven and they’ve suffered head-scratching losses to Creighton and a sliding Washington team. But that doesn’t count out the other conference favorites, either. Texas isn’t knocked out of Big 12 title contention despite their recent struggles at home and scoring difficulties. Iowa State’s still in the hunt. Their loss to South Carolina is a classic example of what can happen when a jump-shooting team isn’t their hitting jump shots. Even the prohibitive favorite Kansas isn’t the surest of sure things this season with several veteran players taking on new roles. Then there are the wild cards of the league — West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma State (sup, TCU) — teams that aren’t great but are good enough to stay in the conversation deep into conference play. We’ve got eight solid teams and no clear-cut favorite in this league this year. It’ll make the next two months a thrill to watch unfold.