Is No. 7 OU basketball for real? Get a good idea vs. No. 11 UNC

Both things can be true at once about OU basketball. One, the Sooners are one of the biggest surprises of the season. At 10-0, Oklahoma is one of four undefeated teams left.

Two, though, the schedule has left a lot to be desired. Wins at the time vs. Iowa and USC now don’t move the needle as much. Arkansas has been struggling. Nothing really resonates. Good wins, but not top-10 ranking type of victories.

This one? Yes, this one definitely would. OU heads to Charlotte to take on No. 11 North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational on Wednesday night.

How to watch

No. 7 OU (10-0) vs. No. 11 North Carolina (7-3) – Charlotte
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
TV: ESPN
Fubo Streaming: Fubo (Try for free) Fubo’s holiday offer just kicked off – For a limited time, new subscribers can save $20 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite, and Premier plans ($20 off the first and second months)

The Tar Heels have faced one quality opponent after another. It’s reflected in their 7-3 record, including a tight, contested loss to No. 9 Kentucky over the weekend.

It still begins with the one-two combo of center Armando Bacot and guard R.J. Davis. Bacot has been a force in the post for years. Nothing has changed. This season, he is averaging 15.2 points per game and 11.3 rebounds.

“He’s a tremendous scorer. He’s experienced,” said OU head coach Porter Moser on a Zoom conference. “Knows how to get angles. He’s quick. He’s got a quick spin move. Got quick moves in there. Obviously, he’s got length and touch. He’s probably the best big man in the country, you know, arguably he’s one of them. But his quickness and length is — you’ve got to be ready for how quick he makes his moves and he’s got great touch.”

It’s the rebounding, too. There has not been a bigger challenge for the OU center combo of Sam Godwin and John Hugley.

Godwin is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country. So is Bacot. 

“So with Bacot, just like any really good offensive rebounder, is you’ve got to get into the body,” Moser said. “You can’t play volleyball and just think you’re just going to stand there and try to out jump him. We’ve got to be physical with our box outs and we’ve got to get into the lower body and be fundamental with our box outs. And that’s just an everyday thing.”

Davis the scoring machine

Bacot doesn’t lead UNC in scoring. Not even close, actually. That’s Davis, who has become one of the best in the country at 21.5 points per contest.

He’s making just under three 3-pointers per game. Do not send him to the free throw line, just under 95 percent this season.

He does a lot of things well.

“You want him to take a lot of shots to get points,” Moser said. “And you want to wear him out. He’s going to play 36-38 minutes. We’ve got to continue to run different guys at him. Wear him out with our depth. But we’ve got to make him work for everything. He moves tremendously without the ball. Like he’ll hunt that 3, he’ll come flying by.

“If you lose vision on him, he’s great at making you pay if you lose vision on him. It’ll get lost and all of a sudden he’s catching it and shooting 3. He’s just tremendous. One of the best scorers in college basketball. He’s got great speed with in the open court. He gets to the foul line. We’ve got to slow him down in transition. And we can’t lose him. We can’t lose him and let him get easy 3’s. He’s got to work for everything. We’ve got to make him work for everything.”

Handling the Baby Blue atmosphere

Moser joked after Saturday’s win that he remembers the environment last year. It was OU beating Florida, but it was still decked out in Tar Heel blue.

That has been a critique from some about this team. Power Five wins? Sure. Playing in tough environments? Not so much. Even OU-Arkansas in Tulsa was a little more friendly for the Sooners this time around.

That won’t be the case in Charlotte, which might feel like Chapel Hill at times.

The Sooners have a wealth of experience playing in big games, but this group doesn’t have that together. Wednesday should answer some questions in that regard.

“Once you start doing it, you embrace it. That’s what you want,” Moser said. “You love college basketball like that. The thing you have to be aware of are runs. When it’s going loud, 4-0 run, what do you want when someone is making a run? You want a good possession. Want to be solid with the ball.

“You don’t need grand slams when a team is on a 4-0 run. You want to get a single or double, a nice play to stop that run. Sometimes people think the only way to stop a run is a grand slam. You don’t. That’s what you’re aware of in an atmosphere like that, avoiding those big runs.”

OU has never defeated UNC in basketball.