'It starts with me': Porter Moser takes blame for OU's overtime loss to Butler
NORMAN — The Sooners were all out of magic.
Elijah Harkless sank a corner 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left to send Oklahoma into overtime of its game against Butler on Tuesday at Lloyd Noble Center, and the home team needed another miracle in the extra period.
The Sooners trailed by three with seven seconds left when Umoja Gibson took a couple of dribbles past halfcourt and threw up a prayer from about two feet behind the 3-point line.
Gibson fell to the floor in an effort to try to draw a foul, but the referees didn't bite. The ball collided with the rim and bounced out, sealing the Sooners' fate.
OU suffered a 66-62 loss to drop to 7-2 on the season. Harkless finished with a team-high 16 points, while Jordan Goldwire and Tanner Groves each added 10 points.
"I thought the (defender) fouled me, but the refs didn't see it," Gibson said of the late shot. "It is what it is. We just have to take it on the chin and move forward."
Here are three takeaways from the contest:
OU's offense thrives around the rim
The high-percentage shot is the best.
OU held a 21-17 lead with 4:50 left in the first half when Goldwire pulled the trigger on an open look in the corner. The ball rimmed out, bringing the Sooners to 1-for-6 from behind the arc, but Harkless made up for the miss.
The 6-foot-3 senior leaped above Butler's bigs for the offensive board before going back up strong for the easy bucket.
The pair of shots summed up the Sooners' shooting on Tuesday. Butler forced OU to win from distance by rolling out a 2-3 zone, and the home team only went 9-for-31 (29%) from long range.
"I was not happy," OU head coach Porter Moser said. "We work so much on getting the ball in the middle of the zone. We were ineffective at getting it into the soft spots we wanted to. We really wanted to get it in the middle. We really wanted to get it to the baseline.
"It starts with me. I’ve got to get our guards to know how to play it."
After shooting 37-for-93 (39.8%) from 3-point range through its first four games this season, OU is 33-for-120 (27.5%) in its last five contests.
The saving grace has been the Sooners' efficiency from 2-point range, though. They entered Tuesday shooting 60.9% in that department, which ranked second in the country.
'He's with me and close to my heart': How OU's Porter Moser gets his drive from his late father
Harkless is OU's big-time shot taker
Harkless didn't have any other option.
Oklahoma trailed Butler 54-51 with five seconds left in the game when Harkless gathered a pass in the corner.
He didn't see an open teammate. He didn't have room to dribble. He had Butler forward Mike Parker's left hand in his face.
So he let it fly.
Harkless elevated for a 3-pointer while fading back into his team's bench, and the spectators at Lloyd Noble Center collectively held their breath as the ball soared through the air in what felt like slow motion.
The action-movie-style scene ended when the ball fell through the rim, tying the game at 54 and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
"We just kind of got stuck in the corner and it was the last opportunity to get a good shot," Harkless said. "It just happened to be me that had it, and I just took it with confidence. My coaches believe in me. All my teammates believe in me. It just happened to go in that time."
Harkless scored OU's first five points in overtime and finished with a team-high 16 points.
While Harkless' late-game heroics weren't enough to get the victory, he continues to establish himself as the guy the Sooners should give the ball to in crunch time.
He helped secure OU's 65-62 win over UCF on Nov. 27 with a mid-range bucket in the closing seconds.
Butler dominates battle on the boards
Despite not having a player taller than 6-foot-9 on the floor all night, Butler won the rebounding battle 43-30.
The Bulldogs tallied 15 offensive rebounds, which is the most the Sooners have allowed in a game all season. Butler then converted those extra looks into 10 second-chance points.
OU didn't have nearly as much success on the other end. The Sooners tallied five offensive rebounds and only cashed them in for three second-chance points.
"What hurt us was we got out-toughed on the boards," Moser said. "If you look at our analytics, we’ve been better at boxing out all year, and we didn’t tonight. We’ve got to get way more defensive rebounds from some other guys."
Justin Martinez can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or @JTheSportsDude on Twitter. Make sure to subscribe to The Oklahoman to stay up to date with all local sports.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU vs. Butler men's basketball: Takeaways of Sooners' loss to Bulldogs
