Oklahoma basketball captured the attention of NBA star Trae Young on Thanksgiving day. Young, who 24 hours ago joined NBA history, earned a new reason to celebrate the holiday. The former Sooners star watched his alma mater shock the college basketball world.
The unranked Sooners stunned the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats 82-77 on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Young fired off this social media reaction on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account after the game.
Long before Young became the deadly NBA shooter for the Atlanta Hawks, he starred at point guard in Norman. Considered a prized five-star local get for OU, the Norman native played just one season for the Sooners in 2017-18. However, that campaign was enough to boost his NBA stock. Young averaged a nation-leading 27.4 points and 8.7 assists per game. He led OU to the NCAA Tournament with an 18-14 mark.
Young eventually landed fifth overall to the Dallas Mavericks. But got traded on draft night in a blockbuster deal that involved the Mavs getting Luka Doncic. Young has since become a three-time NBA All-Star following his OU days. But again, his alma mater grabbed the national CBB spotlight on the holiday.
How Trae Young’s Oklahoma team stunned No.24 Arizona
Both teams started slow on the shooting end. Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears misfired on his first two three-point attempts. Jalon Moore of OU also missed a layup underneath the hoop.
Arizona, however, had its own sluggish start. Caleb Love missed his own layup attempt. Tobe Awaka then saw his three-point attempt fail to go inside the net. Awaka eventually got fouled and scored the first two points from the free throw line.
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Fears, though, responded by grabbing a Kobe Elvis pass and banked his next three-pointer to give OU the early lead. Oklahoma eventually led by as many as 10 early — with Fears hitting one more long range jumper at the 10:47 mark. That lead later ballooned to 13 when Mohamed Wague nailed his two free throws.
The Wildcats, however, jumped to a 10-2 run to cut the OU lead to 28-23. The Sooners took a 36-30 lead into halftime. Oklahoma never trailed throughout the afternoon. Even when Arizona cut the lead to three four different times in the second half, OU always responded. Moore, Fears and Duke Miles all delivered free throws or jumpers to break out of the three-point lead.
Fears dropped 26 points to lead the Sooners. Moore chipped in 24 while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds. Bench player Luke Northweather grabbed seven boards to tie Moore, plus added 10 points in 21 minutes. Miles was the last Sooner to reach double figures by scoring 11.
Young’s college home is off and running to start 2024-25. His Sooners are 6-0 while chasing the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament title. OU now takes on Louisville Friday for the tournament championship.