Oklahoma's Season Ends With NIT Loss to St. Bonaventure

Mark Schmidt’s Bonnies (22-9) were up for the challenge from the jump, as the veteran laden St. Bonaventure squad burst out to a 10-2 run to start the contest.

Senior guard Umoja Gibson was able to shake off the slow start and lead the charge for OU to get back into the game in the first half. Gibson poured in 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the opening half, punctuated by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Sooners into the intermission up 36-33.

But just as they did in the first half, the Bonnies came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders.

St. Bonaventure put together a 7-0 scoring run to go back up 43-39, ensuring the Sooners would have to expend most of their energy chasing the game down the stretch.

Unfortunately for the Sooner faithful gathered in the Lloyd Noble Center, the Bonnies had a response for every OU salvo.

Oklahoma went on a 10-2 run late buoyed by a pair of transition dunks from Marvin Johnson and Ethan Chargois to take a two-point lead with six minutes remaining, but a Kyle Lofton stepped up to save the day for St. Bonaventure.

The Bonnies’ senior guard made his presence felt down the stretch, as Lofton scored eight of his 10 points in the final six minutes of the game.

Gibson had one last counterpunch to throw, however.

Down by four, Gibson drilled a triple to cut the St. Bonaventure lead to 69-68 with 17 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma appeared to lock in a trap on Dominick Welch on the baseline, but Jordan Goldwire was called for a foul to send Welch to the free throw line.

Welch only made one of the two attempts from the charity stripe, giving OU one last gasp.

Johnson ended up with the final shot attempt from the left elbow, but it rimmed out short and the Bonnies were able to pull down the rebound to end OU’s season.

Gibson finished as Oklahoma’s leading scorer with 26 points, but Jalen Hill was the only other Sooner to reach double-digit scoring.

Hill ended with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting while also pulling down five rebounds.

The Bonnies now advance to play Virginia in the NIT quarterfinal, while Oklahoma’s season comes to an end. 

Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!

Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!

Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.