Sooners Advance to Final Four

For the fifth time in school history and the first time since 2002, the Oklahoma Sooners are in the Final Four.

The Sooners defeated the Oregon Ducks 80-68 to win the West Region. Buddy Hield was sensational as he scored 37 points on 65 percent shooting while making eight three-pointers. He has scored 117 points through his first four tournament games. Only Steph Curry scored more in that span. In addition, Hield’s 37 points is the most scored in an Elite Eight game since 1990.

Buddy Hield had a pretty good game. pic.twitter.com/uvFgbNAGJJ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 27, 2016

The Sooners never trailed once in the game, leading by as many as 19 points. They held the Ducks to their worst shooting performance of the tournament as Oregon shot only 39 percent from the field and 19 percent from downtown. In addition to a high-scoring offense led by Hield, Oklahoma’s defense has been very solid, holding its first four opponents to 41 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent shooting from long distance.

After leading Oklahoma to its 29th win of the season, Hield gave credit to his teammates for giving him open spots to shoot.

Oregon’s Elgin Cook scored 24 points on 46 percent shooting in a losing effort. Chris Boucher notched the only double-double of the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It was not enough for Oregon who has not reached the Final Four since 1939 which was the first and only year they won the national championship.

Oklahoma will face the Villanova Wildcats in the Final Four. The Wildcats have been playing very good basketball in this tournament, defeating its first three opponents by an average margin of 24 points and beating top overall seed Kansas 64-59 to reach its fifth Final Four in program history. The game will start Saturday at 6:09 p.m. on TBS. The winner advances to the national championship to face the winner of North Carolina and Syracuse.