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'Mind-boggling:' Checking in with 1993 Sooners, the last OU men's team to win at Kansas
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- 'Mind-boggling:' Checking in with 1993 Sooners, the last OU men's team to win at Kansas
Terry Evans did the math in his head.
"Man, how many years has it been?" the former Sooner sharpshooter asked. "Thirty? Thirty-one?"
Just about.
When No. 9 Oklahoma (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) plays at No. 3 Kansas (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) on Saturday, it will have been 30 years and 11 months since the Sooners last won at Allen Fieldhouse. Bill Clinton was in the first month of his presidency. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" topped the music charts. "Groundhog Day" led at the box office.
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If only the Sooners could be like Bill Murray's character and relive the magic of that Feb. 17, 1993 day in Lawrence . Recapture that feeling and channel those memories. Because time is almost up.
With OU playing its last season of Big 12 hoops, who knows when the Sooners will enter the Phog again. An annual trip to Lawrence will no longer be on the winter calendar, and maybe the Sooners won't mind. After all, some of the last OU men to have beaten the Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse are in their 50s.
"That's mind-boggling," said then-senior Bryatt Vann.
More: OU men's basketball's 10 closest calls during Sooners' 30-year losing streak at Kansas
Jan. 11 1993 - Oklahoma' s Bryatt Vann drives around Sean Pearson of Kansas during Big Eight game in Norman - THE OKLAHOMAN FILE.jpg
"There's been a lot of good teams that have come through Oklahoma since that time," said Jeff Webster, a junior forward on that '93 squad. "That just tells you the scope and how good Kansas has consistently been."
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"It's got a lot to do with Kansas," Evans agreed. "Not only is it an amazing environment, but they've been good."
The Jayhawks have been great, winners of two dozen regular-season conference championships since 1993. Kansas ruled the Big Eight, the Big 12 and the Jayhawks will likely rule the roost of this new-look league.
But even despite Kansas' reign, shouldn't the Sooners have gotten lucky in Lawrence at least once in the last three decades? OU has been close, triple-overtime close with Buddy Hield seven years ago , but that '93 squad of Evans, Webster and Vann, Angelo Hamilton, Ken Conley, Bryan Sallier and the late Ryan Minor were among the last Sooners to actually beat Kansas at Kansas.
Sallier, OU's starting center, didn't even play that day. He was sick with pneumonia.
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The Sooners were 14-point underdogs, but they stunned the sixth-ranked Jayhawks 80-77. That OU team, coached by Billy Tubbs, finished 7-7 in Big Eight play and missed the NCAA Tournament.
The 1992-93 Jayhawks, meanwhile, made it all the way to the Final Four, where Roy Williams' squad lost to North Carolina — Williams' alma mater and future employer. Kansas was led that season by guards Rex Walters and Adonis Jordan, with Greg Ostertag manning the paint.
"That's probably one of the best games that we played together," Vann said. "We were fearless that night. Being on the road at Allen Fieldhouse, it seemed like we didn't care what they was ranked."
Vann, who has one daughter playing basketball at OU (Skylar) with another (Zya) signed to the Sooners' 2024 class, had 17 points and eight rebounds against the Jayhawks.
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Evans scored a game-high 26 points, including the Sooners' last seven points of the game. Evans, a longtime coach across the state, shot 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Evans, who made his 241st career 3-pointer that night, passed Steve Henson to become the Big Eight's career 3-point leader.
"We made some big shots," Evans said. "I played really well in that game, Bryatt Vann played well and Angelo and Jeff Webster. Everybody just played a big role. And we didn't turn the ball over, that was probably the most important thing."
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Jan. 11 1993 - OU's Jeff Webster launches a shot over Kansas' Patrick Rickey on Jan. 11, 1993, in Norman. A month later, the Sooners beat Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. The Sooners have not won there since.
Webster, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds, doesn't remember much from that night — a reminder of how much time has passed.
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"I would have to Google my performance … I guarantee you, if you played it right in front of me, I couldn't remember it," Webster said. "But hey, we won, and we'll take it."
Webster does remember how tough it was to play at Allen Fieldhouse.
"You better bring it," he said. "You feel the intensity, you feel the vibe, the floor is shaking, the fans are going crazy … They talk about the sixth man or whatever, add four more to it. It's like they got 10 on the court."
He also remembers the whistles favoring the home Jayhawks.
"They can say what they want, but the calls don't go your way," Webster said. "I always felt like, 'Dang, they don't need help.'"
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Webster, Vann and Evans all remain around the game. They're still in touch with their teammates, having just mourned the passing of Minor, and they'll likely be watching Saturday to see if the Sooners can repeat their magic of 31 years ago.
"I'll put it to you like this: If you can't get hyped or excited to play in an atmosphere like that," Vann said, "then you're not human.
"We got the team this year to do it."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball: 1993 Sooners remember last win at Kansas
