A 'just us' road mentality working for OU basketball

OU basketball head coach Porter Moser continues to do all he can to improve the home environment for the Sooners.

That’s not going to stop. It shouldn’t stop. But for whatever reason, you look at the last four games for OU? It’s anything but home sweet home.

The Sooners are 2-2, but that’s two road wins and two home losses. No rhyme or reason, just the way it has worked out.

How to watch

No. 23 OU (16-5, 4-4) at UCF (12-8, 3-5)
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN+.

If OU is going to go 3-2 in its last five, it will include another road victory. The Sooners head to Central Florida on Saturday afternoon.

Time for the road warriors to return.

“I think the focus is it’s just us on the road,” Moser said. “We’ve handled the runs the last two games. This is a great clip to show lessons for future teams. They (KSU) battled back and it was seven with like seven or eight minutes left. The crowd was deafening. The lowest they got was seven, and Sam got an offensive rebound putback to get it to nine. It quieted the crowd.

“That’s an effort play. That’s a winning play. I don’t think it got below nine the rest of the game. That’s what we’ve been able to do, answering the bell and making plays. Did the same thing at Cincinnati. Bounced back. Every time the crowd tried to get going, we answered it. that’s been a really good thing for us.”

OU only had three conference road victories in Moser’s first two seasons. Again, another example of how year No. 3 is just different.

The ‘fun’ part for the Sooners

You can use a lot of words to describe the Big 12 grind. One you don’t think of too much, though, is fun. Winning on the road, however, that’s fun.

And it was OU’s leader in Milos Uzan who had no problems saying just that after the win in Manhattan.

“Los came in the locker room after the game, and I’m always saying — there’s always the thing about this generation like, ‘I want to have fun.’ And people are on them and all this and working hard and I’m not having fun playing basketball,” Moser said. “The fun is in that locker room. And Los came in that locker room afterwards like, ‘that was fun.’ He looked at everybody like, ‘how we defended together, that was fun.’ And that’s what you build on to keep them hungry.” 

McCollum returns to form

OU needed it. Javian McCollum needed it. After scoring just 16 points in two losses last week, McCollum notched 21 at KSU.

The production is obviously nice. But what stood out to Moser was McCollum’s mentality. You could tell it was different right from the start.

“His swag. I thought he had it back,” Moser said. “I mean just how pounded the ball. You could just see how confident he pounded the ball, there was nothing hesitant. His defense was way better. Stance, vision, toughness, engaged off the ball. It was an all-around great game for him based on just — and his voice.

“Him and Los together, it was the best combined leadership they’ve had together. And when you’re struggling in a game, one of the worst things to do is be quiet and curl up. You want to just keep talking to yourself and stay positive. And you won’t dwell on the mistakes when you’re talking and in the moment.”

Scouting UCF

Not much was expected from UCF in its first Big 12 season. But the Knights have already had some bright moments. Beating Kansas, winning at Texas. But maybe the grind is catching up to them

UCF has lost three in a row, including a home loss to Baylor on Wednesday night. Moser knows UCF will bring it defensively. OU will have to be ready to end the first half of conference play at 5-4.

“They’re elite, elite defensively. They’re long as long can be. I mean, they really protect the rim. Really like their guard Darius Johnson. I mean, what a game. And (Marchelus) Avery’s playing terrific. They have really good length and they just guard you.

“And the way they shot the ball last night, they made 14 3’s against Baylor. They absolutely are one of the best defensive teams I’ve seen on film because of their length, and they play really hard. And then they make you get to the basket, and then they just (are) one of the top shot blocking teams in the country.”