Head coach Porter Moser still looking for his first NCAA Tournament appearance with the Sooners and hoping to do that this upcoming season, but let’s go a few years back.
At number nine, we look to the OU hoops and their 2016 Final Four run led by Buddy Hield.
Oklahoma was led by head coach Lon Kruger in his fifth season with the Crimson and Cream.
The Sooners began the season winning their first 12 games. Some of those wins came against the Wisconsin Badgers, Creighton Blue Jays, Hawaii Warriors, Memphis Tigers, ninth-ranked Villanova Wildcats, and the 11th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones.
As the second-ranked team in the country, the Sooners suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the top team in the country the Kansas Jayhawks. Despite the 109-106 loss in triple overtime, Hield still finished with a game-high 46 points, eight boards, seven assists, and draining eight three-pointers.
Winning seven of their next eight games, Oklahoma was 19-2 at the start of February.
Ending the month of February 4-4, having notable wins against the 24th-ranked Texas Longhorns, the 10th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Crimson and Cream headed into March with a 22-6 record.
The Sooners won the final two games of the regular season. 73-71 against the Baylor Bears in Norman, Oklahoma, and 75-67 against the TCU Hornfrogs in Fort Worth, Texas.
Onto the Big 12 Tournament hosted at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Oklahoma was victorious in their first game of the tournament 79-76 against Iowa State, but was knocked out in a close one 67-69 by West Virginia.
Receiving the two seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners set their attention to March Madness.
The Sooners took down the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners 82-68 in the opening round and advanced to the second round matching up with the VCU Rams.
Surviving a tight one 85-81 over the Rams, Oklahoma heads to the Sweet 16 with familiarity meeting up with the former Big 12 Texas A&M Aggies.
The third-seeded Aggies could not keep up with the Sooners 77-63 behind Oklahoma’s point guard Jordan Woodard scoring a game-high 22 points.
In the Elite Eight, Oklahoma clashed with the one-seeded Oregon Ducks. Hield’s 37-point outburst and his eight made three-pointers led his team to an 80-68 victory over the Ducks sending the Sooners to the Final Four for the first time since 2002.
Unfortunately, the Sooners were overmatched and eliminated 95-51 by Villanova.
Despite the loss, no one can deny how special and significant this season was for the Sooners.
Hield was awarded the Naismith College Player of the Year, the John R. Wooden Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy, and the Sporting News College Player of the Year.
By: Joey Ross
