They are 5-5 , not good..right. But consider that 4 of those losses were to teams that combined are 37-2 (95% wins). And 3 of the 4 were away from the Galen center. Why would USC schedule that way when 3 of their top 4 players left? Easy answer-they were cowed into scheduling tough by being snubbed last year when they were 2nd n the PAC-12. Now they have given the NCAA another excuse.
The reality is that this team is missing a lot of players (both left the school or are injured) and needs all of them to be in sync to overcome having a guy like Porter on the sidelines. Facing tough, fully manned and good teams doesn't help.
As to this game Oklahoma is a rugged defensive team and at Home (Tulsa isn't that far from Stillwater) it gets to play ruggedly. Lots of hand checks , body bumps and it resulted in poor handling (18 TOs- 10 by our PGs). But USC down by 20 did cut it down to 4 in the second half, and from that point they were kept away. The refs had some strange calls (or lack of calls) as usual. Offensive fouls called as the defensive moves into the shooter. Traveling called while the pivot foot didn't move, etc.
Racocevic was steady (17 points, 15 reb) and Usher did well in limited minutes (10 pts, 4 Rebs) in 19 minutes) , but Boatwright and Jonah Matthews had off nights (6-23 combined shooting). The remainder of the OOC has 3 more winnable games. And we should see more of Porter.
The reality is that this team is missing a lot of players (both left the school or are injured) and needs all of them to be in sync to overcome having a guy like Porter on the sidelines. Facing tough, fully manned and good teams doesn't help.
As to this game Oklahoma is a rugged defensive team and at Home (Tulsa isn't that far from Stillwater) it gets to play ruggedly. Lots of hand checks , body bumps and it resulted in poor handling (18 TOs- 10 by our PGs). But USC down by 20 did cut it down to 4 in the second half, and from that point they were kept away. The refs had some strange calls (or lack of calls) as usual. Offensive fouls called as the defensive moves into the shooter. Traveling called while the pivot foot didn't move, etc.
Racocevic was steady (17 points, 15 reb) and Usher did well in limited minutes (10 pts, 4 Rebs) in 19 minutes) , but Boatwright and Jonah Matthews had off nights (6-23 combined shooting). The remainder of the OOC has 3 more winnable games. And we should see more of Porter.
