Oklahoma riding wave of momentum into rematch with Kentucky: "We're a different team"

Two weeks ago, Otega Oweh carried Kentucky to victory against Oklahoma, his former school, scoring a career-high 28 points, 23 in the second half. Coming into tonight’s rematch in the SEC Tournament, the Sooners are surging, winning their last three games, including a 12-point victory over a ranked Missouri team, a four-point win at Texas, and last night’s 81-75 win over Georgia in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

Right now, Oklahoma is on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, one of the four byes in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology. A victory over Kentucky would certainly push the Sooners into safer territory, but Oklahoma coach Porter Moser is confident his team has already done enough to get into the Big Dance.

“We are a part of [the NCAA Tournament field],” Moser said in his postgame press conference. “I mean, I thought we were above the bubble going into this game.”

“For us, we want to just win and advance in this SEC Tournament, then we’re going to get after it. But we are a part of it. No question. With as many Quad 1 wins that we’ve had, with the resiliency we’ve had. People talk about us playing the best basketball down the stretch in our last six games.”

The Sooners certainly had their moments last night, hitting 10 three-pointers in the first half. Freshman Jeremiah Fears had three of them and finished with a game-high 29 points on 8-16 from the field, 4-7 from three-point range, and 9-12 from the free-throw line. Over the last seven games, Fears is averaging 21.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per contest. He had 18 points vs. Kentucky in Norman last month, second only to Jalon Moore, who had 20. Both Sooners are eager for another shot at the Cats after a chippy round one in Norman.

“I think it’s going to be a great game,” Moore said. “When we played them last time, came down to a last shot. We’re a different team when we played them, too. Tomorrow, being able to play them again and getting a W tomorrow, it’s going to be a fun and physical game.”

Moser: Loss to Kentucky was a “gut punch”

Oklahoma’s first season in the SEC has been rough. The Sooners brought a 13-0 record into conference play and were quickly humbled, losing four straight. When Kentucky went to Norman, they had just snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Mississippi State. Moser is proud of how his team has regrouped.

“We talked about just playing better winning basketball, to win games, to get in the NCAA Tournament. It was like a business mission statement. We wanted to play better winning basketball.

“These last six games…then we had two gut punches. We had a week of just a gut punch losing to Kentucky at home on that under six seconds, then Pedulla hitting that three. We come back, and how did these guys respond? Beat Missouri, won at Texas, beat Georgia. It’s a credit to their resiliency and the culture of our locker room to fight and stay together.”

Obviously, all eyes will be on Otega Oweh tonight after his heroics in Norman. Brandon Garrison also wore his emotions on his sleeve in his return to his home state (and nearly took a beer can to the head on the way out of the arena). Moser knows Kentucky is much more than just one or two players.

“They have so many offensive weapons. Otega, he’s been really consistent every game. They’ve got so many different offensive weapons. It’s not one guy you have to key in on Kentucky. Their offense is so spaced out. They have fives that can pass. Amari [Williams] and Brandon [Garrison] both can pass so well. They got shooters everywhere. They got a veteran Final Four point guard [Lamont Butler].

“It’s going to be a group effort guarding all their motion, their blast actions. We’ll get after it. I know our guys were stung after that game. Both teams played their tail off. Looking forward to a great matchup tomorrow with Kentucky.”