NORMAN — As Oklahoma exited Manhattan, Kan., on Saturday night, it was engulfed with a feeling it hadn’t had for one of those flights home in a long time.
The 63-60 victory over No. 22 Kansas State was its first true road victory in a year and first road win against a ranked team in four years. The Sooners had earned the right to celebrate.
OU coach Lon Kruger wasn’t thinking about the victory. He thoughts were centered on how it all came together.
“We’ve had games where we’ve worked hard but haven’t competed hard. We need to bridge it so those two things can be the same. We’re moving in that direction,” he said. “I thought tonight we really competed hard, and had to, against a really good Kansas State team.”
The difference between playing hard and competing only shows up and scoreboards. Playing hard means giving the required effort. Competing means doing it and getting the definitive results.
Saturday, it was all there.
The Sooners (13-7, 3-5 Big 12) battled back after losing the lead in the second half. Steven Pledger scored 30 points despite battling foul trouble throughout the game’s final 30 minutes. They were clutch from the free-throw line in the final minutes.
They were everything they weren’t in heartbreaking losses at Cincinnati back in December and at Texas A&M just a week ago.
“Point blank, you saw tonight a team that wanted to win. Period. Just wanted to win,” point guard Sam Grooms said. “Whatever we had to do, from boxing out to talking on defense and just being a team. More than being individuals, we were a team tonight. Against Texas A&M, we broke down. We weren’t a team. We were individuals. Tonight, we fought through adversity and played as a team. Whatever it took, we did it.”
The celebration doesn’t get to last long. OU faces No. 5 Kansas (17-4, 7-1) at 8 p.m. Wednesday. After winning in the frying pan at Kansas State, it jumps into the fryer.
It’s tough game, but at least the Sooners have acquired some momentum.
“We hope so,” forward Romero Osby said. “We still look at it as every team in the Big 12 is tough. We look at every game as an opportunity to get some wins and get some momentum going toward the postseason. Hopefully we can feed off of this and get some wins going to Kansas and the rest of these places the rest of the year.”
Kruger wasn’t thinking about the rest of the year Saturday night. He wasn’t even thinking about the victory. The Sooners finally have something that’s been missing.
“Most important is what they’re feeling now — not just with the win, but what they had to do to put themselves in position to get it,” Kruger said. “That’s what we have to keep promoting.”
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
