1st Round West Region: Oklahoma wins big

Joe Brannan, Staff Writer

Oklahoma

If you consider yourself a college basketball fan, or just a fan of the sport in general, and haven’t heard the name Buddy Hield by now, something is wrong.  You need to become more aware of your surroundings because Buddy Hield is and has been college basketball for the past two seasons and is looking to lead his Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship.  The shooting guard from the Bahamas has scored in bunches all year, averaging 25 points per contest.  The Sooners’ quest for a title started with a first-round matchup with California State Bakersfield, the winners of the Western Athletic Contest.  The Roadrunners, in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, put up quite the fight.  They jumped out to an 8-0 lead and at one point in the first half led again 19-14.  Oklahoma made a bit of a run to end the half and led by seven at the break.  The Roadrunners, however, would make another push in the second and regain the lead 46-45, but that’s when Buddy Hield decided to take the game over.  From that point on, Hield scored 16 of his game high 27 points to help the Sooners pull away.  Isaiah Cousins added 16 for Oklahoma and Jordan Woodard chipped in 15.  Aly Ahmed led Bakersfield with 16 points, Kevin Mays added 14, and Dedrick Basile notched 13.  The Roadrunners made a great showing for a team that just became a division one school in 2010.

As for Oklahoma and Buddy Hield, VCU is the next opponent that stands in the way.  The Sooners are going as far as Buddy and his shooting ability can take them, and I’d say they are in pretty good hands.