Field Level Media
Jan 12, 2019
Kristian Doolittle scored a season-high 24 points, including the game-winning jumper with 3.2 seconds left, to lift No. 23 Oklahoma to a 76-74 win over No. 25 TCU on Saturday at Norman, Okla.
It was the culmination of a big closing push for Doolittle, who grabbed a rebound with 27 seconds left and was fouled with the Sooners (13-2, 2-2 Big 12) up by one point.
He made both free throws to push the lead to three, but Alex Robinson hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left -- the last of a dozen 3-pointers by the Horned Frogs -- to tie the game.
After a timeout, Doolittle hit the running jumper to put Oklahoma ahead for good.
Doolittle also had 10 rebounds, giving the junior his first double-double since his freshman season.
Kouat Noi led the Horned Frogs (12-3, 1-2) with a career-high 30 points, going 8 for 12 from behind the 3-point line.
Noi scored nine of his points in less than a minute in the first half when he hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 13-0 run by the Horned Frogs.
TCU dominated the boards early, using 13 offensive rebounds to build a 30-14 edge on the glass by halftime.
But Oklahoma, which came into the game second in the country in defensive rebounding, settled in on the glass in the second half to get back into the game. TCU wound up outrebounding the Sooners by six.
The Horned Frogs were without starting guard Jaylen Fisher for the third consecutive game with a right knee injury.
While redshirt freshman RJ Nembhard performed well stepping in for Fisher in TCU's first two Big 12 games, he struggled Saturday, going 1 of 8 from the floor.
Oklahoma had center Jamuni McNeace back in the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 21. McNeace played 22 minutes, his most since Nov. 27, the last game before he sustained an ankle injury that has limited him since. He scored six points and added six rebounds.
Christian James added 15 points for the Sooners while Aaron Calixte and Brady Manek scored 12 each.
Robinson added 16 for TCU, which shot just 26.7 percent from the floor in the second half.
--Field Level Media