Oklahoma guard Bijan Cortes announces he's taking time away from basketball for personal reasons

Oklahoma sophomore guard Bijan Cortes announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he’s going to take time away from basketball due to personal reasons. He made the announcement about two hours before the Sooners host Texas Tech.

Cortes averages more than 17 minutes a game for Oklahoma, playing in all but one game this season. He’s averaging 3.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2 assists a game.

“Due to personal reasons I am taking some time away from basketball. I look forward to returning as soon as I can. Thank you all for your support,” Cortes said.

Due to personal reasons I am taking some time away from basketball. I look forward to returning as soon as I can. Thank you for all your support. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

— bijan cortes (@whynotbijan) February 21, 2023

Without Cortes, the Oklahoma will likely need the likes of Otega Oweh, Joseph Bamisile and C.J. Noland to play more minutes going forward.

Porter Moser shares how Oklahoma held off Kansas State’s comeback effort

Oklahoma snapped a rough losing streak with a solid victory over Kansas State last week, and Porter Moser was proud of his team’s play.

The Sooners were stuck in a rut, losing seven of their last eight prior to their win against the Wildcats. Ironically, their other victory was against the Alabama Crimson Tide, so they can ball with the best of them, they’ve just been wildly inconsistent.

Nevertheless, Moser was proud of the was his team handled Kansas State’s comeback attempt, and thwarted it on the way to a 79-65 win. Speaking with the media, he elaborated on the big moment for Oklahoma’s season.

“I thought where we grew was where we talked about handling runs. Handling and bouncing back,” stated Moser. “Let’s just take this game. We jumped out to a lead, like we did the other night against Kansas. Then Kansas State came right back, punched us in the mouth and took the lead. That’s what Kansas did, and we were down 13 at half. We fought back and then tied it. I thought the guys came out in the second half. I thought our second half defense was very good. I mean, they’re so hard to guard. … Their length. They’re really tricky to guard. There’s a reason why they’re so good.

“But I was proud of our guys on how we fought back after we got punched in the face. We’ve seen us get that snowballed in some recent games, and we didn’t tonight.”

While Oklahoma is ninth in the vaunted Big 12, they’re 13-13 on the season and looking to make a late-season run. Their best shot at getting to March Madness is through the Big 12 Tournament, so Moser will hope to get his team playing similar basketball over the next month.

Time will tell if Oklahoma can shock the college basketball world, but they’re on the right track after their latest win.