Big 12 winners, Alabama losers of inter-conference hoops clash
If the SEC can claim superiority over the Big 12, and every other conference, on the football field, well it looks like the Big 12 can do the same on the court.
In this year’s edition of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, the Big 12 came away with a 7-3 record. Oklahoma and West Virginia picked up ranked wins on Saturday, while last-place Texas Tech knocked off LSU in Baton Rouge. Though Iowa State and TCU lost to unranked opponents, and Texas dropped a top-10 contest with Tennessee, the conference can still claim a win overall.
The conference continues to raise its profile as a basketball league. With their impressive weekend in the inter-conference clash, the Big 12 was named winners from the weekend by USA TODAY Sports’ Eddie Timanus.
As mentioned, the Large Dozen-minus-two claimed the overall series against the SEC helped by winning the two closest contests. Baylor and West Virginia picked up three-point wins at home over Arkansas and Auburn, respectively. – Timanus, USA TODAY Sports
The bottom of the conference held strong against some of the best in the SEC. The Sooners came away with the weekend’s biggest surprise, downing No. 2 Alabama at the Lloyd Noble Center.
It was an incredible environment that had to stun the Crimson Tide and the Sooners won in a blowout. Oklahoma’s domination put the Tide on the “losers” side of the ledger.
Losing on the road is one thing. But the way the Crimson Tide were run out of the gym by Oklahoma, which is most assuredly not among the Big 12’s upper echelon this season, had to be quite vexing for coach Nate Oats and his staff as the team was completely uninterested in playing defense. Ultimately, the damage to Alabama’s overall profile will be minimal, and if the team takes the lesson to heart that it can’t simply rely on its shooting each time out, the result could still prove useful. – Timanus, USA TODAY Sports
What the Sooners did to Alabama was equal parts shocking and impressive. They shot lights out from the floor and were efficient on their three-point attempts. But it was their defense, which had waned down the stretch at times this season, that was most impressive. They didn’t allow the Crimson Tide to roar back into the game and preserved the victory.
It was a win that could propel the program to brighter days if they’re able to go on a run to close out the Big 12 schedule.
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Social media reacts to the Sooners stunning win over No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide
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