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Dayton Forsythe giving OU a big lift off the bench

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•01/21/25•

BPrzybylo

Dayton Forsythe7
OU freshman Dayton Forsythe. (Jim Dedmon - Imagn Images)

You didn’t know which way it was going to go with OU freshman guard Dayton Forsythe. Was it just a one-off feel-good type of thing? Or perhaps, have the Sooners found something on their bench for the rest of the way?

If last week was any indication, it’s the latter. And if last week is any indication, Forsythe sounds like he’s ready for what’s being asked of him.

Down 23 points in the second half against Texas last Wednesday, OU head coach Porter Moser was looking for any sort of spark. Didn’t care who, didn’t care how.

Moser put Forsythe in, and boom, everything changed. His effort, his energy became infectious the rest of the way. The deficit was cut down to three points multiple times and two points once but ran out of time.

It was only 10 minutes, and Forsythe didn’t score. But message sent to the starters – hey, this is the passion you’re supposed to show.

“He’s definitely been a big X-factor for us,” senior guard Kobe Elvis said. “I don’t think a lot of people understand the value he has. I think sometimes he doesn’t understand the value he brings to the game.

“He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know because he’s young. Comes in and plays so hard. Crashing the boards, making shots, making good reads. He plays extremely hard. It’s contagious. It affects me, the rest of the guys coming off the bench and the starters coming back in. Hey, I need to play as hard as him.

Moser went back to that well Saturday against South Carolina, and Forsythe delivered once again. This time it was 13 minutes with five points, two rebounds and an assist.

Again, it’s not the numbers. It’s the attitude and intensity. But you could argue Forsythe’s 3-pointer to give OU a 59-51 lead was the biggest play of the game. The Sooners took a deep breath and went to work.

OU outscored the Gamecocks 44-20 after trailing 42-38 to win going away 82-62.

“They all know Dayton’s energy. Last game he brought us energy,” Moser said. “For him to knock that down, it was just like, it’s fun to see how excited they are for him because of how hard he plays.”

Getting your bench rotation in conference play can be tricky. It just normally isn’t 10 or 11 guys, not realistic. And it looked like Forsythe was about to join the mop-up duty crew.

Four minutes in that position in a blowout loss to Alabama. Then didn’t see a second of action against Texas A&M or Georgia.

Moser rolled the dice against the Horns, and it worked.

“Coming off the bench, I feel like it’s our job to come in and bring energy, play super hard, and let the chips fall where they may,” Forsythe said. “It happened today, we both hit big shots, but tomorrow it could be two different people, so just doing whatever we can to help the team is my mentality.”

OU just have to keep scratching and clawing. The 13-0 start has been replaced by a 14-4 record and just a 1-4 mark in SEC play.

This is the week of getting recharged and adjustments. No midweek game for OU. The Sooners return to the court 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Arkansas.

Don’t be surprised to see Forsythe, after all, in action and solidly in the rotation.

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