Trending teams
⇑ Oklahoma City women – 17 straight wins, 20 straight home wins
⇑ Oklahoma City men – six straight wins
⇑ Oral Roberts women – six straight home wins
⇑ Langston women – four straight wins, 16 straight home wins
⇑ Southern Nazarene men – four straight wins
⇓ USAO women – seven straight losses
⇓ Southwestern Christian men – seven straight losses
⇓ Oklahoma Wesleyan men – nine straight losses
⇓ Oklahoma Panhandle men – 11 straight losses
• What the Oklahoma State defensive execution lacked against Oklahoma in the second half the weekend before, it more than made up for against Kansas in the second half this weekend. The Jayhawks shot 56.5 percent in the first half, but after the break the Cowboys defense locked down in one of the best performances of the year and held KU to less than half of that at 26.7 percent from the field.
And the offense deserves recognition, too, as the 13-0 run before the first media timeout in the second half is something that can carry a team through a season.
Nash’s 18-point performance and Forte playing through flu-like-symptoms was worth the watch, while Hickey gets more fun to watch each game and Cobbins in a stabilizing force. This column had questions about OSU’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament just last week, but the Pokes are looking good right now.
• Oklahoma Christian went out to the panhandle and put some points on the board.
The men stopped a seven-game losing streak with a 104-71 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle. John Moon and Eric Randall each had career outings and double-doubles. Moon had a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds and Randall put up a career-high 29 points with 15 rebounds. This is a team that needed a win badly and got a big one.
In the first game of the afternoon, the Lady Eagles won, 81-66, and pulled to within one game of .500 in the Heartland Conference. McKenzie Stanford scored a career-high 30 points, with 26 of them coming in the second half. Sydney Hill also had a big game, putting in 25 points and shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line.
• A bright spot for OPSU was the women’s home victory over Newman on Thursday. The Aggies won for the first time since Dec. 13, halting an 11-game slide. Tatyana Bell scored 21 points on the night. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in the first half.
• The big winners from the Saturday were:
⋅ Mid-America Christian men – Big victory over SGU to stay at the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference at 9-3 and regain momentum.
⋅ Oklahoma City men – Pushed winning streak up to six and in a solid second place in the SAC standings, after a win over MACU on Thursday. Momentum heading into two road games at ranked opponents this week.
⋅ Oklahoma State men – Win over Kansas is huge at any point. The Cowboys did it over a top 10 ranked KU team and in front of the 1994-1995 team that was back in the GIA to be honored for its trip to the Final Four.
⋅ Southwestern women – Upset win over No. 20 Harding and payback for the conference opening loss. The Lady Dawgs have won three of four (lone loss was by two points in overtime to No. 25 ATU) and are letting the GAC back in the hunt to not only make the tournament field, but also a postseason run.
• And off the court and to the diamond for just a moment, what would be the best thing to happen for a pitcher on Opening Day? I think Oklahoma Baptist’s Kelvin Rivas found it. Congratulations to the senior for throwing a no-hitter against York. The Bison won 12-0.