For those that may not follow college basketball, Trae young is a freshman guard for the University of the Oklahoma basketball team. He is currently averaging 29.1 points per game and 9.3 assists per game, which leads both categories in the country. However, after a 12-1 start to the season, the Oklahoma Sooners have gone from a lock in the tournament to a bubble team after going 4-9 in their last 13 games.
Oklahoma struggles
After such a great start to the season the Sooners are in a drought, as they lost their fifth straight game this past Saturday to the Texas Longhorns.
As a team, the Sooners shot 20 of 65 (30.8%) from the field, which includes 8 of 30 (26.7%) from behind the three point line. On the flip side, the Sooners played very poorly on defense, allowing the Longhorns to shoot 30 of 55 (54.5%) from the field. Going forward, this will not work if the Sooners plan to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. One reason the Sooners have been struggling so badly is because of the poor shooting from their star player, Trae Young.
Trae Young struggles
Young has clearly shown that he is one of the best players in college basketball this year. Even with that said, his shooting in this five game skid has not been good and it is clear he has been very frustrated as of late.
Against the Longhorns, Young was by far the leading scorer in the game with his 26 points. However, he only shot 7 of 21 (33.3%) from the field and 3 of 10 (30.0%) from the three point line. The Sooners' struggles aren't all on Young, but Young does bring a whole lot of energy and confidence to his entire team when he is playing well.
In a report by Jake Trotter from ESPN, Trae Young was heard saying, "I'm getting guarded like nobody else in the country." It is very likely that after Young burst onto the scene that teams made adjustments defensively, which could be a cause for Young's recent struggles.
Also according to Timothy Rapp from Bleacher Report, Young was also dealing with an injured knee on Saturday afternoon after colliding with a Texas player.
He was quoted saying, "My knee hurt the entire game, I was not getting the same burst I usually do." Coming down the stretch, the Sooners are going to need the Trae Young that they saw from November to Mid-January, because they are now in danger of perhaps missing the NCAA Tournament completely. Also, since Young will likely leave for the NBA Draft, these last few games will be his final chance to show the NBA scouts he can be a special player in the league
