In a defensive struggle, Oklahoma came up short against No. 1 seeded Virginia Sunday and lost 51-63.

The loss eliminated the Sooners from a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. It also left the Big 12 Conference with only one team – the Texas Tech Red Raiders – in th NCAA Tournament.

The Sooners overachieved this season after being picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 following the departure of All American Trae Young to the NBA.

“Our guys fought like crazy throughout the year,” OU coach Lon Kruger said. “Opportunity to qualify for the tournament and get a good win on Friday and didn’t get the result we wanted tonight, but proud of them. These guys have represented well, and happy for them.”

Last season, Virginia was seeded No. 1 and was the first top-seeded team to be upset by a No. 16 team in tournament history. History did not repeat itself and the Cavaliers are headed to the Sweet Sixteen this week to face Oregon.

“You would like to go through and win them all, but when you get to that point where you’re down and out a little bit, to respond is a pretty good challenge and a pretty good test of their character and their togetherness,” Kruger said.

Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers (31-3). Virginia beat No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb in the opening round last Friday.

Oklahoma (20-14) led only once Sunday. OU hit only four of their last 18 shots in the first half and trailed 31-22 at the half. Virginia led by at least 10 points throughout the second half.

Brady Manek and Christian James led OU with 12 points apiece. Oklahoma shot 57.6 percent (34 of 59) when they defeated Mississippi by 23 in the first round. But on Sunday night, the Sooners shot just 36.5 percent (19 of 52).

All the No. 1 seeds – Duke, Virginia, Gonzaga and North Carolina – advanced in the tournament.

On Friday, No. 9 seeded OU looked like a Final Four team when they clobbered No. 8 seeded Mississippi 95-72 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbia, South Carolina.

That was the most points any team has scored so far in the tournament and the most OU scored all season.

Billy Tubbs’ run-and-gun Sooner teams in the 1980s topped 95 points five times, including a school-best 124-81 win in the second round of the 1989 tournament over Louisiana Tech.

Four OU players scoring at least 18 points. Kristian Doolittle scored 19 points and matched a career-high with 15 rebounds. Brady Manek had 18 points.

The Sooners led by 17 at half-time. Oklahoma shot 58 percent (34 of 59), its second-best mark all season.

“Oklahoma totally outclassed us and out-toughed us,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said.

Texas Tech headed to the Sweet 16

For the second year in a row, No. 3 seed Texas Tech is heading back to the Sweet 16 after a dominating 78-58 win over No. 6 seed Buffalo in Tulsa Sunday night.

Norense Odiase and Jarrett Culver both had double-doubles and the defense held the Bulls to 30 points below their season scoring average.

“We’re not supposed to be here,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “They picked us bottom of the Big 12 and haven’t gotten much respect this year, but these guys have continued to keep a chip on their shoulder and just realize that we can do a lot of things if we play as a team. I thought that’s what we did tonight, we guarded at a high level. We had different guys step up offensively until the game got sloppy late but one of our cleaner games this year. Texas Tech basketball the story this year is team.  Play for the guy next to us. I’ve never been more proud of a team I coached.”

The Red Raiders (28-6) will play Michigan at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Thursday.

The 28 wins by the Red Raiders are the second most in a season in program history behind only the 1995-96 team that went 30-2 and advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Red Raider program returns to the NCAA Regional semifinal round for the second straight year and for the fourth time in program history (1996, 2005, 2018, 2019) since the tournament expanded to 64 teams and are in the regional round of 16 for the seventh time overall.

Odiase established a Texas Tech tournament record with 15 rebounds and added a season-high 14 points.

The 15 rebounds were a career-high and is the sixth time this season he’s recorded 10 or more rebounds. Culver produced his fourth double-double of the season by leading the Red Raiders with 16 points and pulling down 10 boards.

A sophomore from Lubbock, Culver led Tech with 29 points in its first-round win over Northern Kentucky and would also add five assists and two steals in the win over the Bulls.

UH advances with Ohio State win

Corey Davis scored 21 points to help Houston defeat Ohio State 74-59 in a second-round Midwest Region game Sunday night in Tulsa and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

It marked the Cougars’ 33rd win of the season – breaking the record set by the 1983-84 Phi Slamma Jama team for the most wins in a season. That squad was the last to reach the Sweet 16 and advanced to the national final.

Houston is led by former Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson.

Galen Robinson added 13 points for Houston (33-3), which will face Kentucky on Friday. The Cougars’ .917 win percentage leads the nation this season.C.J. Jackson scored 18 points and Kaleb Wesson added 15 for Ohio State (20-15).

Ohio State started off hot from 3-point range, hitting seven of its first 12. But Houston burned the Buckeyes in transition to go on a 14-6 run to close the half with a 39-31 lead.

The Buckeyes lost four of five heading into the NCAA Tournament before upsetting Iowa State in the first round.

Houston was led by Davis, who posted his 13th game with 20 or more points, finishing with 21. He was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, had three 3-pointers and three 2-point field goals to go along with six rebounds.

Houston improved to 17-0 this season when holding its opponents to less than 60 points. The Cougars outscored Ohio State 20-2 in points in the paint in the first half and 34-12 for the game.