Trae Young's struggles and, consequently, Oklahoma's struggles, reared their ugly head once again on Saturday.
The No. 23 Sooners dropped their fifth consecutive game, this time to rival Texas 77-66, in the latest stumble of their late-season collapse that now has them wobbling ever-closer toward a double-digit seed come Selection Sunday. It's their eighth loss in the last 10 games, and this dud comes a mere six days after the NCAA selection committee tabbed them one of the final No. 4 seeds.
Young finished with 26 points — nothing to scoff at by most measures — but he struggled to find the bottom of the net with any consistency, hitting just 7 of his 21 attempts from the field and 3 of his 10 attempts from 3-point range. OU's other stellar freshman, Brady Manek, struggled similarly and finished with 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting and was just 1 of 7 from beyond the arc.
As a team OU (16-10, 6-8 Big 12) hit just 35.3 percent of its shots and 4 of its 15 3-pointers.
Realistically, the Sooners aren't yet in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament. With wins over Texas Tech, Oregon, TCU, USC and Kansas buoying them, they've still got a stellar résumé keeping them afloat. But their late-season slump is absolutely concerning, as is Young's head-first slam into a freshman wall.
This win for Texas, though, is exactly what the doctor ordered. The Longhorns (16-11, 6-8) have been up-and-down since January, but a win over the Sooners snapped a three-game skid and should keep them hovering comfortably right around the bubble line—right where CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has them in his latest Bracketology. And with Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas and West Virginia still on the docket before regular season's end, the Horns have plenty of opportunities to lift themselves comfortably into the field.
