Sat's game against the cats

[Soonerjeepman]

Well, obviously a win would be big. Not sure if our inside guys can match up. They have some size...not just 1 guy.

Talked to some ksu guys up here (we played ball last night)...they are not sure what they have...sometimes the bigs show, sometimes they don't.

IF, the Sooners can play within themselves and limit stupid mistakes we have a decent shot. It seems Clark has finally settled into his role. He was the one that frustrated me the most.

Any thoughts from the 10 BBall guys/gals on board? ;-)

[badger]

I remember when... (http://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-st-wildcats/2012/1/14/2707685/kansas-state-vs-oklahoma-basketball-wildcats-lose-in-an-upset-drop-to)


Kansas State (12-4) is now sitting in a 1-3 hole in Big 12 play, after being upset by unranked Oklahoma (11-5) 82-73 in Norman on Saturday afternoon.

Andrew Fitzgerald led Oklahoma in scoring with 21 points in head coach Lon Kruger's first Big 12 win as the Sooners' new head coach. Kruger is a former player and head coach at Kansas State. Wildcat junior forward Rodney McGruder led K State with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Jeremy Jones scored all of his 12 points in the first half, while sophomore guard Will Spradling scored all 11 of his points in the second half.

Turnovers and defense plagued K State, who gave the ball away 19 times, allowed four OU players to score in double digits.

Oh wait, we played in Norman last early January. Please allow me to try again... (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/gameflash/2012/01/28/74480_recap.html)




MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Every once in a while, Lon Kruger has a senior moment.

The Oklahoma coach will be sitting in film study, or perhaps in practice, and draw on his experience playing and coaching at Kansas State to make a point. Only he'll talk about his days in the Big 8, and his players will gently remind him that, no, it's the Big 12 these days.

Yes, Kruger is back in the conference he once called home.

On Saturday night, he walked out of the building he once called home with a victory.

Steven Pledger scored 30 points and the Sooners weathered a second-half charge by the 22nd-ranked Wildcats - and some tense moments down the stretch - for a confidence-building 63-60 win.

"Pales by comparison to what it means to the players," Kruger said of his first game at Bramlage Coliseum since 1990, when he led the Wildcats in his final game before departing for the same job at Florida. "They're not aware where I went to school."

Actually, Lon, they are.

"This is where he rocked out on the court," Pledger said, "so this is great."

The Sooners squandered a 10-point second-half advantage but still led 59-56 on a pair of free throws by Pledger with 1:07 left, setting up a tense final flurry by both teams.

Will Spradling's slicing layup got Kansas State within a point, and Jordan Henriquez corralled a loose ball on defense with just over 10 seconds left. But Sam Grooms managed to poke it loose before it could be cleared, and Romero Osby went to the foul line.

Osby hit two free throws to restore Oklahoma's three-point lead, and the Sooners fouled Henriquez on purpose with 5.2 seconds left. He made both fouls shots to get Kansas State within 61-60, but Grooms matched him with two free throws of his own.

Kansas State had one final chance when Rodney McGruder got loose on the perimeter, but his 3-pointer at the buzzer clanked off the rim, allowing the Sooners (13-7, 3-5 Big 12) to escape.

"I had a clean look," McGruder said. "Just came up short."

McGruder finished with 19 points and Angel Rodriguez had 10 for the Wildcats (15-5, 4-4), who had won three straight but saw a chance to gain ground in the Big 12 slip away.

"They made it a real physical game. We didn't respond," said Kansas State coach Frank Martin, whose team was 3 for 19 from beyond the arc.

Martin probably wished he had Kruger letting it fly from long range.

The native of Silver Lake, Kan., was a star for the Wildcats in the 1970s, twice earning Big 8 player of the year honors. He later returned as an assistant coach and eventually the head coach, taking over after Jack Hartman retired and leading the Wildcats to four NCAA tournaments.

"It meant a lot to me, playing for Coach, knowing that he was a big-time player," Grooms said. "You want to win for him so he has a little bit of bragging rights."

Kruger received a nice round of applause when he walked onto the court before the game, but all those warm and fuzzy feelings were pushed aside after the opening tip.

Rodriguez gave the Wildcats a spark in the opening minutes, scoring eight of their first 13 points and helping them take an 18-12 lead. But the Sooners quickly reeled them in and then pulled ahead when Andrew Fitzgerald scored with 3:21 left to make it 25-24.

Cameron Clark went soaring for an alley-oop dunk on Oklahoma's next possession, and Pledger's 3-pointer just before halftime gave the Sooners a 34-28 lead.

"It was just a matter of getting into the right spots to help my team out," he said.

Spradling had fits trying to guard Pledger, who came in averaging 17.2 points but had 18 in the first 20 minutes alone. He consistently beat the sophomore guard off the dribble and, when McGruder switched onto him, buried an array of outside jumpers.

The lead swelled to 40-30 early in the second half.

"Pledger hit a couple big shots there," Kruger said.

Kansas State finally mounted a comeback. Henriquez started it with a putback, Rodriguez scooped in a layup and McGruder capped it off with a jumper that knotted the game 40-all.

The Wildcats pulled ahead 44-42 when Spradling was fouled by Pledger going to the basket and made both free throws. It was the fourth foul on Pledger and he took a seat on the bench with 10:55 left, but Kansas State couldn't capitalize when he was out of the game.

He checked back in at the 6:48 mark and immediately got to the foul line, making both free throws. Pledger then buried back-to-back 3s with about 5 minutes left, giving the Sooners a 55-51 advantage and hushing a sellout crowd stuffed inside Bramlage Coliseum.

It was silent again a few minutes later, when McGruder's open look from beyond the 3-point line at the buzzer hit the rim and fell harmlessly to the floor.

"It wasn't always pretty, but we did some things to hang in the ballgame," Kruger said. "I told the guys afterwards, the winning is great, but much more important, we showed a little more competitiveness, a little more fight than we have been."


:les:BEAT KSU REPEATEDLY[hairGel]

[Soonerjeepman]

yes I know the games last yr...I do think this team is playing better than last yrs team but that was last yr. I did look at ksu stats, Rodney McG is their guy..only one avg double figures. He and Spalding are avg the most minutes. Bigs are only avg 4,5,7 pts each. Plus new coach with Weber.

Should be a good game.

[badger]

Five hours till mens game, four hours till womens game (hosting whorn). Soooo excited!


Booooooomerrrrrrr

[Soonerjeepman]

SSSoooonner!

[Blue]

Boomer!

[Blue]

19-17 OU 8 to go...lookin solid so far. The guards leading the way and Fitz w/ 6.

[Blue]

32-27 K state. #22 just hit 3 treys in a row. Survive this run and we'll be fine.

[Blue]

35-27 Kst. 11-0 run to end half for them.

[kevpks]

I am so sick of these three pointers. I want us to put the next guy who shoots a three into the second row. Make him earn it from the line.

[8timechamps]

We still struggle getting off of picks. But, I'll give KSU credit, they are doing a good job of setting them for open looks from 3.

We need Pledger to step it up!

[Blue]

39-34 K st. 16 to go. Fighting.

[Soonerjeepman]

hopefully Pledg can get going...

[Blue]

Too many turnovers. 44-36 Kst.

[Soonerjeepman]

well I figured we'd make a run...get close but I doubt we can pull it out...too many TO's. ksu is hittin their 3's...good is I think we can take them at home.

[Eielson]

If we weren't turning it over so much and giving up so many open threes we'd be running away with this one.

[Soonerjeepman]

our TO's are killing us...and we are afraid to shoot. We've been open for 3's but not shooting

[Sooner95]

Critical time of the game, down 8, 11 to go.

[Blue]

Sloppy as all hell.

[Sooner95]

15 turnovers on the road? Lucky to not be down by 18 at this point..

[Soonerjeepman]

down 10...we are not going to win...too many TO's. Like I said, at least I think we get them in Norman.

[Soonerjeepman]

15 turnovers on the road? Lucky to not be down by 18 at this point..

prob lose by 18 or more

[Soonerjeepman]

ah well, like I told my buddy (ksu guy) at half...we've done better than I thought this yr..and I don't (didn't) expect more than an NIT bid..and that would be a good yr.

Not saying the seasons over...we still will win a lot of games, I'm still thinking 9/9

[Blue]

They didnt quit. Just couldn't stop the big shots by Kst. Down by 9 w/ 2 to go.

[Soonerjeepman]

well, I give credit to the guys for not folding the tents, too many TO's and ksu hitting over 50% of their 3's I'd assume. Not a good combo.

[Soonerjeepman]

They didnt quit. .

never said they did..

[Blue]

never said they did..

I didn't say you said they did...geesh...

[Blue]

And I say 12-6 in conference.

[Sooner95]

LOL

Just cant seem to get closer than 6

[Soonerjeepman]

just not OU's nite...crap our best FT shooter is 1/3 and their 50% guy hits his first on the 1/1. UGH~

[Soonerjeepman]

I didn't say you said they did...geesh...

my bad, thought you were implying I did.

12/6...no way...tell me how?

[Soonerjeepman]

geesh....45% FT, 20+ TO's...giving up the 3's Definitely not OU's game. Hopefully we can get them in Norman.

[Blue]

my bad, thought you were implying I did.

12/6...no way...tell me how?

Lose At KU, Baylor, Osu, KU....

Win At isu tcu, tech, texas, at home vs tex, tcu, isu, kst, baylor, wvu

13-5? :)

[Soonerjeepman]

I think we split with ut, isu..get swept by KU, prob BU...maybe even lose to ksu at home.

I originally had
0/2 - ku, ksu, bu
1/1 - isu, osu, ut
2/0 - tt, tcu, wv

don't see anything different, maybe 1 game one way or the other.

[Sooner95]

Tough loss, but not one I counted we'd win. Regroup for a sh*tty texass team coming into LNC Monday.

[Eielson]

Not a big setback. Florida got beat in Manhattan, and they're loaded. They're beating everybody in the SEC by 20-30 (included Mizzou by 29).

[Eielson]

I think we split with ut, isu..get swept by KU, prob BU...maybe even lose to ksu at home.

I originally had
0/2 - ku, ksu, bu
1/1 - isu, osu, ut
2/0 - tt, tcu, wv

don't see anything different, maybe 1 game one way or the other.

I hate doing these, because there are always gonna be some wins/losses that come out of nowhere. I'd say that's a prediction on the low end. If we keep playing/improving like we are right now I'd say we split with KSU and ISU, and sweep Texas. That puts us at 12-6.

[8timechamps]

Considering how poorly we played, I am left feeling pretty positive about the rest of the season.

15 turnovers, on the road, against a top 20 team....and to only lose by 9 (and the game was closer than even the final showed). Not bad. I'll be anxious to see how this game looks in Norman. I'll bet the Cats aren't chomping at the bit for that one.

The youth still shows on the this team, and when Osby & Pledger don't have good games (or are held in check by opposing defenses), then any mistake by the young guys is amplified. That's pretty much what happened today. However, I am continually impressed by Lon's job and the young talent he's bringing in to Norman.

I think we split with KSU, and possibly ISU and OSU. Texas should be a sweep...but you never know.

[Eielson]

I think we split with KSU, and possibly ISU and OSU. Texas should be a sweep...but you never know.

I sure hope we can split with OSU. :P

But yeah, it is really hard to say that we will sweep anybody. Conference road games are always tough, even against inferior opponents. Even Kansas will slip up in a road game or two this year.

[8timechamps]

I sure hope we can split with OSU. :P

But yeah, it is really hard to say that we will sweep anybody. Conference road games are always tough, even against inferior opponents. Even Kansas will slip up in a road game or two this year.

Well, we could always sweep 'em.

[TopDog8025]

Tough loss, but not a bad loss. Kansas State is a good team. I only really got to watch the first half, but here is a recap as always. http://isportsweb.com/?p=197664

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Gritty performance by our guys! Hung around and hung around. Now they need to learn how to finish off on the road. That is a tough lesson.

This team is still looking stronger each game. Way to go!

[Soonerjeepman]

I hate doing these, because there are always gonna be some wins/losses that come out of nowhere. I'd say that's a prediction on the low end. If we keep playing/improving like we are right now I'd say we split with KSU and ISU, and sweep Texas. That puts us at 12-6.

I agree, that's why I said split with ut, isu, osu. We could easily sweep them..and even beat bu at home, I think...but also lose to tt on the road.

tcu is HORRIBLE..I could barely watch them yesterday...it's like bad HS ball compared to the rest of the Big 12. Every game will be a battle but them, I think. Even WV in Norman could be a tough one. UT, well, they did keep ku down til the end...and when we play them there they get their guard back...but who knows.

I do agree we are much improve over the beginning of the season and if we can continue it will be good. Like 8time said, when our Sr are struggling we need the fr to step up. Buddy is doing well, but their were hesitant to shoot the 3 last night..need to catch and shoot.

Going to watch our big man recruit when his cc team comes to KC to play Johnson county CC and KCKCC both in Feb. Should be fun.

[badger]

Losing stings, but at least we fought all game and kept a lead for the first part of the game. :)

[Eielson]

Well, we could always sweep 'em.

Oh. Whoops.