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MARCHING ON
The Sooners celebrate their win against VCU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. OU will play Texas A&M on Thursday.
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Sooners secure spot in Sweet 16 SPENSER DAVIS • @DAVIS_SPENSER
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Senior guard Buddy Hield directs his teammates on the court during Sunday’s game against VCU. The Sooners won 85-81.
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KLAHOMA CITY — B u d d y H i e l d ’s famous ear-to-ear smile has never been bigger than after Oklahoma’s 85-81 win over VCU on Sunday. “Buddy! Buddy!” the chants rained down on the Sooners’ star and National Player of the Year candidate. He turned and hugged his p a r t n e r s i n c r i m e — Isa i a h Cousins and Jordan Woodard — in a moment that will stick in the minds of Sooner fans for years to come. The chants meant more than a win — more than a special game on a huge stage. No, most importantly, the chants meant the Sooners were going to the Sweet 16. “It was special, but I couldn’t do it all without my teammates,” Hield said. “Hearing my name is special, but I’m just glad that we get to close out on a good note in front of OKC with me, Ryan and Isaiah, especially our last game here. It’s fun that we get to close out on a good note.” Hield’s heroics can’t be overstated. The senior scored 29 points in the second half and knocked down five threes — almost all of them resulted in an eruption from the crowd at Chesapeake Energy Arena and a momentum shift in OU’s favor. “The crowd helped us a lot,” Hi e l d s a i d . “ Ev e n w h e n w e didn’t — when VCU came out on their run, I know their crowd had the momentum going on. And I felt like Jordan carried us a little bit. For the first five minutes, he was able to make plays for us and get the crowd back involved. “The crowd was there all night, and us making shots, and them being there helped us build up momentum and keep us to keep going.” But Hield didn’t start off being the only scorer for Oklahoma. The Sooners built a 21-7 lead with almost no scoring help from
Hield. Instead, that lead was built on transition buckets from Ryan Spangler and Khadeem Lattin, as well as a healthy dose of Isaiah Cousins. “I wasn’t aware of it because I feel like when my teammates were scoring, I was scoring because the energy in the arena was s o loud and ever ybody was just making plays for each other,” Hield said. “So even when I scored, I didn’t really feel like it. I just know we had a big lead. Our objective was to keep on increasing the lead and making it grow.”
“Everybody’s watching, so just relishing these type of moments is special.” BUDDY HIELD, SENIOR GUARD
Hield has had many special moments during his senior season. He dropped 46 points at Allen Fieldhouse and earned a standing ovation from Kansas fans. He hit a cold-blooded, game winning three-pointer to beat Texas in conference play. He went toe-to-toe with Iowa State’s Georges Niang in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals, scoring 39 points in the win. And, for a moment, he thought he had hit a half-court shot to defeat West Virginia in the Big 12 Championship semifinals. But, for Hield, this one tops them all. “I think this is the best one because it means a lot. Because it’s the NCAA Tournament — big stage — win or go home,” Hield said. “And you don’t get these moments back every time. Everybody’s watching, so just
relishing these type of moments is special.” After holding a steady lead for much of the first half, VCU re c ove re d t o t a ke t h e l e a d . Oklahoma was on its heels but was able to rely on the experience of its guards to secure the win. “As a team we just held our composure and just moved on to the next play, whatever happens,” Cousins said. “The last p o ss e ss i o n , w h e t h e r i t wa s a turnover or a bad shot, we just had to get it back the next possession and keep fighting through adversity.” The win puts Oklahoma back in the Sweet 16, a place it was last season before being ousted by Tom Izzo and Michigan State. Hield said he wants to get back to avenge the loss to the Spartans. “They just out-toughed us on the board, and we took plays off that we shouldn’t,” Hield said. “I took plays off that I shouldn’t have taken off. So watching that film from last year, it hurts to see the things that we could have done to win the game. “So I’m just ready and glad we get the opportunity to redeem ourselves and to compete to go to the Elite Eight and potentially the Final Four.” Spenser Davis
davis.spenser@ou.edu
WHAT’S NEXT Who: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Texas A&M When: Thursday Where: Honda Center in Anaheim, California
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