The best player in college basketball had his best game ever and his team still lost
Oklahoma guard Trae Young has taken college basketball by storm.
The freshman leads all D1 players in points per game, his 29.5 nearly four points higher than second place.
His 9.8 assists per game also lead all players.
With the No. 4 Sooners taking on rival Oklahoma State on Saturday, Young delivered the best game of his young career — but it still wasn’t enough.
Young put up an astounding 48 points, but the Cowboys edged the Sooners in overtime 83-31.
Relive all of Trae Young's buckets in his career-high performance of 48 points vs. Oklahoma State. pic.twitter.com/aCK8X2Wr6o
— ESPN (@espn) January 20, 2018
That Young and his Sooners were even able to force overtime is somewhat of a miracle. The Cowboys started out the game on fire, taking a dominant 25-6 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Oklahoma was able to stem OSU’s momentum as the half went on, chipping away at the early deficit and heading to halftime trailing 42-30.
Oklahoma’s first half struggles were largely a result of poor shooting. The Sooners shot 30 percent from the field as a team, and Young was even worse, going 4-for-15 while scoring 15 points.
Not an ideal first half for Trae Young. pic.twitter.com/4MeXtTZYYI
— ESPN (@espn) January 20, 2018
As soon as the second half started, it was clear Oklahoma’s firepower was back. The Sooners scored the first seven points of the half and didn’t let up, taking a 56-53 lead with 7:47 to play.
From there the two teams stayed close for the rest of the game, until Oklahoma State’s Kendall Smith nailed a 3-pointer with 6 seconds to play to send the game to overtime.
Smith ended the game with 20 points, the second-highest total among Oklahoma State players.
Jeffrey Carroll led the way with 23 points while also pulling down 13 rebounds.
Carroll made a pair of free throws in the final minute of overtime to give the Cowboys the 83-81 lead.
Oklahoma had several chances to tie the game but missed them all.
Not the result we wanted, but it was an incredible performance from @TheTraeYoung – willing his team back from 19 down to take the game into OT. pic.twitter.com/L7jMh1uwkO
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 21, 2018
The loss is Oklahoma’s second of the week to an unranked opponent. The Sooners fell to Kansas State on Tuesday by a score of 87-69.
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