Umoja Gibson stood alone at the wing with 4:35 left in the game, feeling a hot hand after dropping 20 first half points.
The senior guard received a pass from redshirt senior guard Marvin Johnson and gathered in the corner before drilling his first bucket of the second half, much to the excitement of the Sooners’ bench behind him.
𝑀𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 👌OU with its largest lead of the game!📺 ESPN+ | https://t.co/HWy7ap5wIl pic.twitter.com/L8ZbJP2OBz
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) March 5, 2022
Gibson’s 3-pointer gave OU a 70-59 lead, its biggest of the game, before leading the Sooners to their first win at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan since 2012 on Saturday.
“As the game went on, the ball found me and I hit shots,” Gibson said.
Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) didn’t look back and made five of its last seven shots to defeat Kansas State (14-16, 6-12) 78-71, keeping its tournament hopes alive. The Sooners earned a first-round bye and clinched the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. OU is set to play No. 2 seed Baylor in the quarterfinals.
Gibson single-handedly willed the Sooners to victory, as he finished with 29 points on 9-for-14 shooting. He also knocked down seven 3-pointers, three of which came in the first 4:11 of the game. Gibson recorded 36 minutes in front of his former OU coach Lon Kruger, who was in attendance honoring the 1971-72 Kansas State team he was a part of.
𝑴𝒐 𝑬𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/DuMLOCsxew
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) March 5, 2022
Following the postgame handshake line of OU's third straight victory, coach Porter Moser embraced redshirt senior guard Jordan Goldwire, junior forward Jalen Hill and freshman guard C.J. Noland with a hug and told them, “We haven’t won here in nine years.”
“We knew what we had to do, just take it one step at a time,” Moser said during his postgame press conference while keeping an eye on the final seconds of the impending Kansas-Texas game. “I’m just proud of the resiliency of this group.”
“Kansas State’s defense is elite. They’re so physical, they’re well-drilled, they scout well. (Gibson) got free for some… he made some huge shots for us.”
Senior forward Tanner Groves continued his strong play, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting and four rebounds. Goldwire added nine points while Hill contributed six points and eight rebounds.
The Sooners’ x-factor off the bench proved to be Johnson, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. The Ardmore native has found his stride down the stretch this season, as he’s averaging six points per game in his last three games.
“Man, (Johnson) got his athleticism into the game,” Moser said. “He really gave us some nice plays and a big lift, and we need that. Everybody’s got to be ready… we really talked about strength in numbers.”
That depth is what has gotten the Sooners back in position to potentially make a run at the NCAA Tournament. However, they’re most likely going to need at least one victory in the Big 12 Tournament next week. Moser believes his group is playing their best basketball and they aren’t finished just yet.
In its previous two games against Baylor, OU lost 84-74 and 65-51, respectively. Entering Saturday, the defending national champion Bears were ranked No. 4 in the NCAA’s NET rankings while the Sooners were ranked No. 46. The Sooners and Bears tip at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 in Kansas City.
“The teams that we had at Loyola, the teams with Coach Majerus, you're constantly teaching, trying to get better and better and play your best basketball in February (and) March,” Moser said. “And we are. I thought we did a lot of good things and got a lot of contributions from different guys.
“I’m really happy for them. I'm happy for the locker room, for those guys to fight to stay fighting through adversity. We needed to win these (last three games) and we did.”
