The secret code Big 12 teams are slowly cracking to deal with Oklahoma's Trae Young worked again.
The Sooners' opponents have been scheming to get the ball out of Young's hands and dare OU's supporting cast to beat you.
Saturday, Iowa State's stifling defense on Young limited the Sooners star to just seven points in the first half as the Cyclones built their lead to as many as 17. And while Young eventually found a rhythm and poured in 15 more over the stretch of the final 20 minutes, it wasn't enough to help No. 17 Oklahoma avoid an upset as it fell 88-80 to Iowa State.
The Cyclones (13-11, 4-8 Big 12) played Young physical on the ball and, when able, denied him the ball altogether on defense and it worked to near-perfection for host Iowa State as it handed Oklahoma (16-8, 6-6) its sixth consecutive road loss.
Christian James scored 22 points and freshman Brady Manek added 14, but no other OU player finished in double digits. Although the rest of the team shot 48 percent (compared to Young's 33 percent), Iowa State was able to hold off a furious rally late to snatch up a surprising, important win in what has been a season marred in mediocrity otherwise.
There are innumerable ways to describe how the Cyclones pulled off the upset. Winning the turnover battle and limiting Young was big, but there was no more important development than the star turn of Lindell Wigginton. The freshman guard outdueled Young, still the frontrunner for player of the year, scoring 26 points and ferociously defending Oklahoma every possession to give ISU an edge from start to finish in one its biggest wins of the season.
Oklahoma has now lost six of its last eight games overall after a scorching 14-2 start, and things won't get easier from here. The Sooners have Big 12 contender Texas Tech on the road Tuesday, before a two-game gauntlet of Texas and Kansas to complete a stretch that could fail to produce a victory for OU .
Don't rule out the Sooners if you're already marking them off your NCAA Tournament bracket before it's revealed, but their wobble all the way back to the middle of the Big 12 standings is absolutely noteworthy and could cost them several seed lines -- down from their No. 5 projection before Saturday's loss in Jerry Palm's Bracketology -- prior to the Big Dance.
