NORMAN — Oklahoma’s season was on life support, but on Wednesday night Umoja Gibson delivered a much-needed jolt.
Hosting the No. 9-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, a 3-point barrage from the OU senior led to a 30-point outburst for Gibson, helping deliver a 70-55 upset of the Red Raiders at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The victory ended a three-game skid, pushing the Sooners to 14-10 overall this season, and 4-7 in Big 12 play. With the loss, Texas Tech fell to 18-6 (7-4).
On the heels of last Saturday’s Bedlam defeat where Gibson was held to just two points on 0-of-6 shooting, OU head coach Porter Moser gave the guard the green light to let fly from deep.
Leading all scorers, Gibson knocked down 8-of-11 from behind the arc, tying his career-high.
Gibson’s display helped OU unravel the Texas Tech defense, which entered ranked No. 13 in the country in scoring defense headed into the contest.
In support of Gibson, Elijah Harkless and Jordan Goldwire both had nice bounce-back games as well.
Harkless finished as Oklahoma’s second-leading scorer with 13 points, but most importantly followed up his eight turnover performance against Oklahoma State with a zero turnover night against the Red Raiders.
Battling through first half foul trouble, Goldwire also added double digit points for OU. The senior guard finished with 10 points, also adding four rebounds and four assists.
Outside of an 8-0 Texas Tech run which put the Red Raiders up 21-14 in the first half, the Sooners did a much better job of not letting turnovers compound into mistake after mistake. Mark Adams’ Red Raiders largest lead of the night was a 30-23 scoreline just before halftime, meaning the Oklahoma never had to expend tons of energy to get back into the game.
An 8-2 run to start the second half, aided by a Harkless triple and a Tanner Groves dunk, helped put the Sooners back in front with less than two and a half minutes gone set the table for a tense battle down the stretch.
Gibson hit back-to-back 3’s to give Oklahoma a seven-point lead with 13 minutes left, and it provided the Sooners all the cushion they would need to keep Texas Tech at bay and pull off the upset.
As a team, Oklahoma hit 13 3-pointers, tying the previous season-high set in the Sooners’ victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Dec. 12.
Moser will the show on the road, carrying the team’s momentum north to play the No. 8-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Tip-off between the Sooners and the Jayhawks is slated for 12 p.m. on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on CBS.
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.
More must-reads: