Porter Moser uses tug-of-war analogy to praise Oklahoma resilience vs. Mississippi State

Oklahoma pulled themselves out of a five-game losing streak to get their most important win of the season.

Porter Moser said the Sooners won a tug-of-war with their 93-87 win over No. 21 Mississippi State on Saturday. OU put up their best fight since the start of the month and, as such, earned their fourth conference victory and one that’ll very much improve their resumé on the bubble.

“You know, we kind of used an analogy about a tug rope – you know, a tug of war, you know. It just seems like the other team is going to pull back. What’s been our resistance? What’s been our resiliency when the other team?” Moser thought. “You look at a tug of war, you’ve got to dig your hand, dig your feet in the sand. And I thought we kept on tugging back when they tried to make a run. We’re down three at half and to come back and go up 14 on a phenomenal team, a physical team (team). But just the resiliency mentally too. It’s a lot mentally, you know.”

“To have resilience to fight through that and to get a big Quad 1 win? We needed that, man,” said Moser.

Oklahoma hadn’t won a game since February 1st having losing five straight and six of their last seven with those coming by an average margin of -17. That had slipped the Sooners all the way onto the bubble and out of some projections for the NCAA Tournament.

However, with the Bulldogs in Norman, OU battled throughout and pulled away in the second half to win it by six. That’s with them shooting well as a team at 52.3% from the field and 42.3% from three. Three starters then made the biggest differences in Jeremiah Fears (27 points (58.3% FG), 10 assists), Sam Godwin (17 points (87.5% FG), 10 rebounds, two steals, two blocks), and Jalon Moore (17 points, eight rebounds).

All four of the league wins for Oklahoma have been impressive in their own ways, despite the play in the ten losses, with them being a team that was undefeated through the non-conference. That’s who Moser wants them to continue to focus on being over their final four games with three against opponents who are currently ranked and a rivalry game in the season finale.

“Just happy for the guys that the narrative can switch with all that on their backs,” said Moser. “We can move forward and chase another one next Wednesday.”