Jalon Moore sparks OU vs. Monmouth, time for the Big 12 grind

Monmouth head coach King Rice knew there was one OU player he didn’t want to see get off and running. He could live with the guards. But Rice knew that if Jalon Moore had an impact on the game, it was going to be tough.

Moore made a huge statement, and it was indeed tough for the Hawks. Moore scored 21 points to help the Sooners to a 72-56 victory Sunday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center.

Moore not known as a 3-point shooter, connected on three of his four attempts. He was 8-of-10 from the field shooting overall.

And when OU needed a spark, Moore and Otega Oweh were there to deliver one. The Sooners actually trailed 42-41 before going on a 17-1 run to get things rolling again.

Oweh had a four-point play. Moore had a couple of blocks, a dunk and a 3-pointer. All the drama officially gone. Time for OU to enjoy its 12-1 start.

“I thought our defense – we were getting gaps, getting stops,” head coach Porter Moser said. “I thought Jalon Moore was playing so much within himself. When he drove it, they dug it, and he picked it up and kicked it. He’s learning from that.

“Early on, they came out on him so he drove. Then they stayed back, and he hit a shot. In transition, he’s ridiculous with his effort. You see guys who are athletic, but they don’t get their athleticism into the game. Jalon Moore gets his athleticism into the game so much. Running, jumping, energy. I thought he played a phenomenal game within himself.”

The 12^th-ranked Sooners begin Big 12 play next Saturday against Iowa State (11-2) at 5 p.m. in Norman.

Game 13 Takeaways

*Oweh needed to make something happen. Before that four-point play, he had two points and four turnovers. That shot led to him ending with 13 points.

“He’s got to be a leader for us in all those intangibles defensively,” Moser said. “I said before the game, Otega, you’ve practiced the last couple of days like you did in November and December. I thought he did a lot of good things. Sometimes it doesn’t translate to scoring, still had 13. Otega is so strong, thought he was so physical defensively.”

*That will work when Milos Uzan and Javian McCollum are playing like that. The duo combined for 16 assists and three turnovers. They each had eight assists. Ball movement was crisp all afternoon. The Sooners had 21 assists on 27 made field goals.

Remembering a Sooner legend

Asked #OU HC Porter Moser about Ryan Minor & Minor’s legacy with #Sooners.

More than anything? Moser brought up the type of person Minor was 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/4gA92NpgB0

— Bob Przybylo (@BPrzybylo) December 31, 2023

SoonerScoop asked Moser about his memories of Ryan Minor. The OU legend, in two sports, died last week (Dec. 22). The team has been wearing No. 12 Minor warmup shirts the last two games.

“I totally remember him as a player. I was at Texas A&M and I was even earlier than that before he was there,” Moser said. “You knew as a player how good he was, but the thing that just absolutely blows my mind is the outpouring of how good a person he was. And I didn’t put it together, being afar, how good he was at baseball too. I just knew him as a basketball player. I didn’t know, and then you hear how good he was at both and how hard he worked at both. And then it’s just mind blowing to get to the bigs in both. The NBA and Major League Baseball. That’s like… you’re elite of elite of elite if you can do that.

“But the coolest thing is what I told our guys, is all that’s great, but the legacy he’s leaving is how he did it. Like, high character, work ethic. Everybody, he had time for everybody. Literally, there’s not a person that doesn’t say, ‘Oh man, he’s one of my favorite people and he’s one of my favorite players.’ What a legacy that is.”