Few road venues more difficult than Bramlage Coliseum for Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger
Some of the biggest recent Kansas State basketball celebrations have come at the expense of one of the team’s best former players and coaches.
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger was there when K-State shocked Buddy Hield and the No. 1 Sooners 80-69 in 2016. Kruger was also there when K-State stymied Trae Young and the No. 4 Sooners 87-69 in 2018. And Kruger hasn’t forgotten how the Wildcats celebrated a shared Big 12 championship last year after they crushed OU 68-53 on senior day at Bramlage Coliseum.
Kruger’s old number and jersey hang from the rafters at the arena he once called home, but his familiarity and history with K-State have done little to help him against the Wildcats since they hired Bruce Weber in 2012.
Kruger is still searching for his first road victory against Weber, as the Wildcats have won seven straight games over the Sooners at home. Oklahoma’s only longer active road losing streak in the Big 12 is against Kansas.
“It is a great home court atmosphere,” Kruger said in a phone interview. “The fans there do a great job and Bruce’s teams have been very good. Like a lot of places in the league, it’s hard to win there. We have got to go play better than we have in the past and figure out how to get one in the right column.”
Kruger will get an opportunity at 7 p.m. Wednesday to win at his alma mater for the first time since he guided the Sooners to a 63-60 victory over former coach Frank Martin and the Wildcats in 2012.
If there ever was a time to break a road losing streak against K-State this seems like it. The Wildcats (8-11, 1-5 Big 12) have fallen on hard times while the Sooners (13-3, 3-3) are in the NCAA Tournament hunt.
Oklahoma opened conference play by defeating K-State 66-61 earlier this month behind 21 points from Wichita State transfer Austin Reaves and 19 points from Kristian Doolittle.
The Sooners should enter the rematch with confidence.
But that hasn’t helped them in the past.
Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade beat Oklahoma as freshmen when the Sooners were ranked No. 1 in 2016. The Sooners went the Final Four. The Wildcats only won 17 games. But K-State was the better team when they played in Manhattan. Weber, perhaps for his defensive style, has an excellent track record against Kruger, going 10-5 against him with the Wildcats.
“Coach Weber’s teams are always very sound defensively and they move the ball,” Kruger said. “They have been up and down shooting the ball, like a lot of teams in the conference, but they are still very sound and very tough defensively. They have that identity that makes them tough to play against.”
Kruger hopes the Sooners can end their road losing streak against K-State this week, but he isn’t putting any extra pressure on them for his sake.
“I don’t know that you approach it any differently than any other next game,” Kruger said. “You are aware of it, of course. It’s a tough place to win. They have had good teams. But you don’t really approach it any differently. It’s not like you are going to prepare any differently. You prepare like it is very significant, a huge game and a tough challenge.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Few road venues more difficult than Bramlage Coliseum for Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger."