Led by Jeremiah Fears and Jalon Moore, Oklahoma presents 'terrific challenge' for Kentucky

Oklahoma ran through the non-conference schedule with an undefeated 13-0 start to the season, ranked as high as No. 12 in the Week 9 update of the AP Poll. That included Quad 1 victories over Arizona, Louisville and Michigan away from home, plus name-brand wins over Providence, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State.

Then things unraveled in the SEC, the Sooners losing their first four games, followed by another stretch of losing five straight in February. They are, however, coming off a massive ranked win over No. 21 Mississippi State on Saturday to stop the bleeding a bit as they sit at 4-10 in the conference.

It’s a group that’s dealt with lows this season, sure, but enough highs to keep Kentucky’s focus right where it needs to be — no overlooking the competition in this one, certainly not with a potential lottery pick in freshman guard Jeremiah Fears to go with star forward Jalon Moore leading the way.

“This starts in transition. Over 17% of their possessions are in transition, they’re in the top 15 percent of the country in terms of efficiency in transition,” Mark Pope said Monday night. “Jeremiah Fears, who’s slated to be a top-10, top-12 draft pick as a freshman, he’s super talented. He has 98 possessions in transition. We actually haven’t played against anybody, any individual player that has 100 possessions in transition. Him and their starting power forward, No. 14 (Jalon Moore), he has 95 possessions in transition.

“So they have two players that are almost 100 possessions of transition, give or take five possessions a game right now — a little bit less than that. That’s a huge number. So guarding them in transition, that’s a big deal.”

Fears, who spoke with Kentucky out of high school before reclassifying and signing with Oklahoma this past recruiting cycle, was one of the brightest young stars in college basketball before hitting a wall to open SEC play. His efficiency tanked as the losses piled up for the Sooners, but he’s coming off back-to-back 20-point games — both against ranked opponents.

“This young point guard, just coming off a 27-point, 10-assist game and shooting 60 percent from the three-point line this most recent game. He’s a really terrific talent,” Pope said.

They’ve suffered some blowout losses, sure, but they’ve also kept things interesting in others and just couldn’t close the gap. In other words, their 17-10 record can be a little deceiving.

“They’re really, really physical inside. They have dynamic guards in the backcourt. They’re a good team,” Pope said. “They’ve played a lot of close games and haven’t quite come out on top, right? They’ve had some good success at home, including a really, really big win for them on Saturday against Mississippi State. They were 13-0 in the non-conference. They beat Arizona, beat Louisville and beat Michigan.”

The praise comes alongside some buzz that Oklahoma coach Porter Moser may be on the hot seat in Norman, Pope pushing back on that talk ahead of the matchup.

He thinks the 56-year-old is the man for the job, even if the Sooners’ first year in the SEC isn’t necessarily going as hoped.

“Porter Moser is one of the terrific coaches in college basketball. He does an unbelievable job,” he said. “He’s great with game plans, he’s great with developing culture. This would be a terrific challenge for us, like every game in this league, and it’ll be fun. I can’t wait to get to it.”