Fantastic finishes?
You’ve come to the right place.
Oklahoma guard Otega Oweh tipped in teammate Javian McCollum’s miss with 1.4 seconds remaining Friday afternoon to give the Sooners a 72-20 victory over No. 23 USC in the championship game of the Rady Children’s Invitational. The inaugural college basketball tournament is produced by the same group that stages the Holiday Bowl, which earned its reputation as “America’s Most Exciting Bowl Game” when eight of its first 10 games were in doubt until the final minute.
Who knew the magic could be bottled outside on the grass field and sprinkled indoors on the hardwood floor?
“I tell you, you’ve got to find ways to win,” said Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, his shirt soaked from a celebratory drenching. “We’ve talked about, whether you’re tied or down, everybody’s got to crash (the boards). …
“It’s a great win because they can’t take it away. The NCAA has shown that, like, wins in November are just as important as in February.”
USC (4-2) led 39-36 at halftime. Three minutes into the second half, the Trojans boosted their advantage to eight points.
But Oklahoma (6-0) drew even 49-49 on John Hugley IV’s 3-pointer with 15:18 remaining.
The Sooners had a two- to four-point lead most of the next 10 minutes before the Trojans tied it 70-70 on a pair of free throws by DJ Rodman with 29 seconds remaining.
That set the stage for Oweh and a fantastic finish.
“He came out of nowhere and made a great, athletic play,” Moser said.
Afterwards, USC coach Andy Enfield lamented the Trojans’ failure to block out on the play.
“Just crashing,” Oweh said. “You have to crash, especially in games like this where it’s high energy and a lot of crowd noises. You can’t get caught up in watching the play. You’ve got to actually play basketball.”
Watching McCollum’s shot, Oweh said, “It was either going in, or a soft miss, so I just had to get into position to tap it in.”
Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson scored 16 points apiece to lead USC.
McCollum earned tournament MVP after scoring a game-high 18 points for Oklahoma.
Oklahoma 6-foot-10 forward John Hugley IV points at the bench after hitting a 3-pointer against USC.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Big threes
Hugley looked out of place at the top of the arc instead of under the basket.
Until, that is, Hugley started knocking down 3-pointers like he was Steph Curry.
The 6-foot-10, 275-pound Hugley was 4-for-4 from long distance, collecting 12 of his 14 points from beyond the arc. Coming into the game, Hugley was 3-for-6 on 3s this season.
“My teammates and coaches believe in me,” Hugley said. “I put in a lot of work over the summer putting up threes, and it’s paying off. … When USC went on runs, me being able to knock down the open shot really brought us back in the game.
Said Moser: “In practice, he shoots it. I’m afraid now that he’s going to ask for all these 3-point plays. Right now, we’ll just keep letting him fall into them.”
Iowa guard Tony Perkins (11) flexes after a foul was called against Seton Hall.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Iowa beats Seton Hall
A day after shooting a chilly 35.8 percent from the field on Thursday, Iowa shot 56.4 percent to fuel 85-72 win over Seton Hall in the third-place game.
The Hawkeyes (4-2) were up 44-33 at halftime, led by as many as 14 points in the second half and cruised to the win behind 22 points from Payton Sandfort and 19 from Ben Krikke.
Seton Hall (4-2) had a team-high 18 points from Dre Davis.
Red Panda wows the Rady Children’s Invitational crowd with bowl-stacking prowess while balancing on a unicycle.
(Kirk Kenney / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Red Panda bowls over crowd
The halftime entertainment for the championship game was a woman who bills herself as Red Panda.
She flips bowls — starting with one and then as many as five at a time — from her foot to her head. The stacking grows, one after another until there are nearly two dozen of them piled high.
Did we mention the Panda does this while wearing white heels?
And sitting atop a seven-foot unicycle?
The crowd eats it up.
The Panda’s real name is Rong Niu. She began doing acrobatics as a child, was a 2018 semifinalist on “America’s Got Talent” and is famous all over now through her appearances at college and professional events.
“I saw Red Panda at a USD game and she brought the house down,” said Mark Neville, CEO of Sports San Diego, which staged the Rady Children’s Invitational. “Then I was very aware of her. Saw here at NBA games, the NBA All-Star Game. When we got this going, we really worked on the fan experience. Red Panda, it sounds funny, but the crowd loves her. When she throws all those bowls on her head, it’s wild.”
Oklahoma players and coaches huddle for a timeout during Friday’s championship game.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
See you next year
The 2024 tournament participants already are set, with Arkansas, BYU, Notre Dame and Purdue filling out the field.
Neville said organizers couldn’t have been happier with the tournament’s debut, which included a second-day sellout (3,912) at UC San Diego’s LionTree Arena.
“We had really high expectations for ourselves here, and I think we have checked every box,” Neville said. “People are having a great time. Fans are loving the Fan Zone. Fun entertainment.
“Having a sellout here today and an incredible championship game, very much like a DirecTV Holiday Bowl finish. Maybe it’s in our DNA.”
