Oklahoma vs. CSU Bakersfield: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

The No. 15 seed Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners remained close with the No. 2 seed Oklahoma Sooners for much of Friday's NCAA tournament game, but the Big 12 team had something the challengers didn't—Buddy Hield.  

The superstar guard propelled the Sooners to the 82-68 victory and helped his squad avoid an upset on the same day fellow No. 2 seed Michigan State lost to Middle Tennessee State. College Sports CBB reacted to the outcome:

Hield finished with 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range. He and his backcourt teammates helped Oklahoma make one final push after Cal State Bakersfield was only down four points in the final minutes. Isaiah Cousins scored 16 points and connected on all three of his shots from downtown, while Jordan Woodard added 15 points. 

The Sooners may eventually die by the three in this tournament, but they lived by it Friday and hit 11-of-20 from beyond the arc. That shooting allowed them to overcome 16 points and eight rebounds from Cal State Bakersfield's formidable center, Aly Ahmed.

Despite the final score, the Roadrunners were not intimidated from the opening tip and actually jumped ahead to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes. Guerin Emig of the Tulsa World commented on the quick start:

Oklahoma bounced back from the early deficit and seized a 35-27 lead late in the first half. However, the Sooners could have been ahead by more, as Oklahoma Basketball highlighted:

The Roadrunners trimmed the deficit to 41-34 by halftime when Ahmed connected on a three-pointer right before the buzzer. Andy Glockner of The Cauldron praised the underdogs for remaining within striking distance:

Cal State Bakersfield started the second half strong and trimmed the deficit to 43-40 before Khadeem Lattin slammed one in with less than 17 minutes left. John Shinn of the Norman Transcript noticed a pattern with the Sooners' offense:

The Roadrunners continued to battle and actually took a 46-45 lead with less than 15 minutes left. Evan Riggs of the University Daily Kansan looked at things from a conference perspective after Baylor already lost to Yale: 

That's when the Sooners appeared to separate themselves. Cousins and Hield both drilled three-pointers during a spark, and the No. 2 seed was suddenly up 58-50 at the under-12-minute timeout. Hield's long ball was particularly impressive:

Kevin Pelton of ESPN praised the Oklahoma playmaker:

However, Cal State Bakersfield battled right back to cut the lead to 61-56 with just more than eight minutes left. Emig praised the underdogs' ability to play with the Sooners: 

Hield came through from deep yet again, but Eric Bailey of the Tulsa World said the Sooners defense was reason for concern:

The Roadrunners cut the lead to 69-65 against that defense at the final media timeout, and Emig noted things were bouncing their way down the stretch:

Jenni Carlson of the Oklahoman didn't mince words when talking about the crowd in Oklahoma City:

Despite the narrow deficit, Hield was not about to let his team lose. He notched a block and then drilled a three-pointer to give Oklahoma the 75-65 lead with less than three minutes remaining. Joe Buettner of the Dallas Morning News summarized the critical sequence:

Emig pointed to Oklahoma's experienced backcourt as a difference-maker in March:

From there, the Sooners never let the Roadrunners realistically challenge again and earned the 82-68 victory. Just for good measure, Woodard hit another three to put his team ahead 80-65 with less than a minute left to underscore the importance of those guards.

What's Next?

The Sooners will play VCU on Sunday after the No. 10-seeded Rams knocked off Oregon State on Friday, 75-67.

VCU is known for its pressure defense, but it only forced six turnovers against the Beavers in the first-round matchup. Instead, it won with an impressive effort on the glass and outrebounded Oregon State, 40-28.

The Sooners will need to be strong on the inside after VCU established itself on the boards Friday, but the guards will also have to protect the ball against any extended pressure. Fortunately for the Sooners, that means keeping it in the hands of Hield, Cousins and Woodard more often, which was the recipe for success against Cal State Bakersfield.

If that backcourt continues to drill threes, Oklahoma could be five wins away from a national championship.

Postgame Reaction

Cal State Bakersfield coach Rod Barnes was quick to praise the excellent Hield after the game, per Cliff Brunt of the Associated Press, via ESPN.com: “He's my Player of the Year because I think he's been the most consistent player in the country this year.”

Roadrunners forward Matt Smith echoed similar sentiments, per Brunt: “He's a great player, and I feel like he just made his mind up more than he did early on because he saw his team needed that. That's what great players do.”

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger reflected on the victory, per Brunt: “It's a good first-round win. I told our guys afterwards, I said, `Hey, they caused us to play less than what we'd like to.' But Bakersfield did that. Appreciate winning. Appreciate winning and playing again, because it's not easy to do that, and proud of the guys for doing that.”

While Kruger was appreciative after the win, Ahmed didn’t hold back on his analysis of the Sooners, per Brunt: “We got into a rhythm. We kept the game tight as much as possible. For a second, they had to like, `Hey, let's wake up!' And that was the point. They are good, but they're not great. If they're great, they would beat us by 20 or 30.”

Ahmed may not think the Sooners are great, but Hield and his teammates still have the chance to cut down the nets. The Roadrunners do not.

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