Texas A&M set to contain friends Hield, the player of the year candidate from Oklahoma, and the Aggies were successful, holding Hield for 17 points, well below his postseason average of 31.4 points per game. The Aggies arrested and their limited Hield ringtones, but it was like trying to bottle experience. The No. 2-seeded Sooners are much more than a one-man team as they demonstrated Thursday in their 77-63 victory against the No. 3-seeded Texas A & M in a round of 16 West Regional game at the Honda Center.
On Saturday, the Sooners will play no. 1-seeded Oregon, which defeated Duke, 82-68.
Hield and to his fellow seniors Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins, along with junior Jordan Woodward, has started 103 straight games, and they were finishing a play the other against Texas A & M, which was led by Tyler Davis (17 points) and Jalen Jones (11 points, 10 rebounds). The Sooners tallied 23 assists, 9 more than the Aggies, with the core four collect 20.
When we have ball movement and flow of ball, everybody gets good shots, said Hield.
No one had better pictures than Woodard, 6-foot guard the Sooners '. He was the smallest player on the Court, but he had the biggest game with 22 points, including his first 2:00 pm 16 minutes.
How hot was Woodard?
Near the end of the first half, he took a loose rebound as the clock shot was running out and threw the ball toward the rim of an impossible angle, only to see him on the bench.
I just wanted to make sure I get it to the rim, said Woodard. It was just that kind of night, I think.
The Woodard mind being overlooked because of his size. On the eve of the game, he said: If I underestimate, not very bright. I like to take on a challenge because I assume guys bigger every day in practice.
The Aggies were also an experienced team, with four high-level inputs, including point guard Anthony Collins. But for stretches in the first half, they played like they were thrown together in a pickup game. Collins twice threw the ball away on passes in the paint. They have to lose control of Hield in the backfield, including in a game on the pitch, allowing you to cut to the basket for an easy tray off a pass from Spangler. The Sooners took advantage of the lapses to score 19 of the last 23 points in the first half to take the lead 45-26 at halftime.
We have a good team that played very well, Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy & said. Every mistake we made, they made us pay.
The hole Texas A&M had dug deep & was, but they don't consider it as a grave. Four nights earlier, the Aggies had erased a 12-point deficit in the last 35 seconds of regulation on his way to a double-overtime victory over Northern Iowa defeat. After that game, one of the seniors, Alex Caruso, the wrote one word on the Whiteboard: believe. The Aggies led to his escape from the second round as a sign that they were destined for the Final Four in Houston.
Led by Davis, the Aggies scored to first 5 points of the second half. Sooners coach Lon Kruger called a timeout. Whatever was said helped to Sooners settle down.
We had a couple of bad offensive possessions, Spangler said, and the coach called that timeout and brought us back together and set our defense up and made sure they were taking smart shots.
In the first two rounds, Spangler did 11 points. He knew he had to contribute more, and against the Aggies, he had to finish with 10. From the beginning, Hield couldn't be contained in plates, which keyed the transition offense the Sooners.
We tried to keep him from touching the ball as much as possible, said Caruso. The other guys did a good job of playing off them. We could not have given them enough credit.
With the win, the Sooners closed a wound that ignited since its loss in the third round to Michigan State in last year's tournament. The defeat of 4 points, Kruger said, was a source of motivation during the spring, summer and fall training.
Losing at the point where you're close, but you go home instead, I think we had our faces more specific during the off-season to improve, progress, work with him, said Kruger.
So, the Sooners were on the same page. Got asked a lot of questions about how we felt last year, Woodard said, so we wanted just to make sure we had a greater focus this game and make it to our ultimate goal.
Round 8 is not the ultimate goal of the Sooners; so that the Sooners planned to commemorate his victory at the hotel watching game film.
Because we have a big game next Saturday, said Hield. Therefore, we have to be very closed for that, too.
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