Austin Reaves leads OU basketball in scoring, assists and rebounding. Any team would miss such a player, and the Sooners indeed missed its leader and point guard against Alabama.
But OU missed Reaves more against Texas Tech.
The Sooners’ incredible ascent up the college basketball food chain — nary a vote for the Associated Press poll on Jan. 18; all the way to a No. 9 ranking two weeks later — finally plateaued Monday night on the South Plains of Lubbock. Texas Tech, ranked 13th, bested OU 57-52.
The verdict did not impede the rising ceiling for Lon Kruger’s team.