OU Basketball: Oklahoma Falls to Texas Tech in De'Vion Harmon's Return to Norman

Porter Moser’s defensive game plan appeared to be spot on in the early stages of the contest.

Oklahoma (13-15 overall, 3-11 Big 12) forced 13 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, handing the ball back to Texas Tech (16-12, 5-10) just three times in the process.

But the Red Raiders still connected on 13-of-20 field goal attempts and managed to take a 33-31 lead into halftime.

While the Sooners tried to turn up the heat defensively, OU leading scorer Grant Sherfield struggled offenjveily in the first half.

Sherfield scored seven points, but shot just 2-of-8 from the floor, and the Sooners needed an offensive jolt out of the locker room.

With Sherfield struggling to find any rhythm, Tanner Groves picked up the slack offensively.

OU’s lone super senior hit 3-of-4 shots in the second half, including a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to pull the Sooner back within four points with 5:46 remaining.

Texas Tech sucked whatever small hopes the home fans had out of the arena down the stretch, as the Red Raiders got to the paint over and over to close out the win.

Oklahoma allowed 26 of Texas Tech’s 40 points in the paint in the second half, and the Red Raiders created separation on the scoreboard as they did a better job of taking care of the basketball after halftime.

Groves finished as OU’s leading scorer with 16 points, and a trio of Sooners finished just behind him.

Jalen Hill added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Sherfield and Milos Uzan contributed 10 points apiece.

The Sooners ended up winning the turnover battle 16-8, but Texas Tech was able to close the gap in points off turnovers, only trailing OU by one point in the category.

Texas Tech also beat Oklahoma on the boards, outrebounding the Sooners 38-22.

The loss was yet another low in what has been a February to forget for the Sooners.

Weeks after getting blown out by West Virginia 93-61 on the road, Oklahoma suffered yet another loss to the other member of the bottom three in the Big 12 to leave OU as the clear cellar dwellers in the conference.

But OU will have one more chance to change its fortunes before the calendar turns to March.

Moser’s team will hit the road to take on the Iowa State Cyclones at 11 a.m. on Saturday.