Norman, OK – On a Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, the Texas Christian Horned Frogs took on the hosting Oklahoma Sooners on Senior Day. TCU came out cold, getting multiple looks at the basket from second-chance opportunities but failing to convert.
Oklahoma’s Grant Sherfield (20 points, 4-of-7 3’s) had the hot hand early, nailing two contested jumpers to give the Sooners the early cushion on a 9-2 run. Oklahoma caught fire early as they were perfect on their first six shots from the field.
The Sooners slowed down the Horned Frog’s transition attack and made them set up their half-court offense. TCU looked to Mike Miles (17 points, but no assists) to carry the load. However, Oklahoma was locked in on getting the ball out of Miles’ hands. Oklahoma kept their hedge defender on Miles forcing him to give the ball up. The Sooners suffocated the Horned Frogs with a triple switching and scramble defense. Oklahoma showed high basketball IQ to switch on the backside to get the proper matchup, not allowing TCU to take advantage of the Sooners’ triple switching, holding the Horned Frogs to 26 percent from the field in the first half.
Senior Tanner Groves came into the game averaging 10 points and seven rebounds. Groves shined in his last game at the Lloyd Noble Center, boasting a stat line of 23 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-16 from the field and 8-for-11 at the line. But arguably, his most significant contribution was his role as the rim protector, as Groves anchored a defense that only allowed 20 points in the paint.
The Sooners began to go cold on the offensive end in the second half as they settled to take contested jumpers. Porter Moser took a page out of the old school playbook in the second half and turned to Groves as they went to their spread hi-lo action while also looking for the blind pig to facilitate to cutters. TCU amped up their ball pressure cutting off the vision of the entry passes to Groves speeding the Sooners up as the Horned Frogs cashed in on 13 points off turnovers. However, it was not enough to ever leave the game in doubt. It was the Oklahoma’s selfless passing leading to open looks that helped them prevail with the 74-60 win on Senior Day.
This article was written by Hayden Hackworth, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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