Rhode Island Tops Oklahoma In OT

Trae Young wouldn’t let the Sooners go down easy, scoring 18 of his 28 points after halftime but 10-seed Oklahoma came up short in overtime, losing 83-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Young sparked a last-minute comeback to force overtime, scoring 11 points in the final 4:38 of regulation. Rams guard E.C. Matthews hit a pair of threes in overtime to seal the Sooners’ fate.

Just as in the regular season, OU lived and ultimately died by the three. The Sooners shot 4-20 from beyond the arc and gave up 11 treys to the Rams.

Rhode Island had four players score in double figures, led by Matthews’ 16. Fatts Russell had a career-high 15, Cyril Langevine had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jared Terrell scored 13 for the Rams. The Sooners got good production out of starting forwards Jamuni McNeace (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Kristian Doolittle (8 points, 12 rebounds).

Christian James was hampered with foul trouble for most of the game and ended up fouling out with just five points. Brady Manek shot 2-for-10 off the bench to finish with four points.

In all likelihood, this was Young’s final game in a Sooner uniform. He’s projected as a lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft class after scoring 848 points and dishing 272 assists as a true freshman. Young finishes the season averaging 27.4 points, 8.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on 42 percent shooting and 36 percent from long range.

Rhode Island advances to face the winner of Duke-Iona in the second round.