OU basketball gets on the SEC board, snaps four-game skid

This was one of those games OU basketball could have won by one point or 20, nobody would have cared. As long as it was a win because it was sorely needed.

OU is officially on the board in the SEC. The Sooners were able to put it together in the second half in an 82-62 victory against visiting South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center.

OU is now 1-4 in the SEC and still has the three Quad 1 victories from non-conference.

But we all know OU has to get going in the conference to have any shot at the NCAA Tournament. Game No. 5 might sound early for desperation time, but it was just about there.

After a 34-30 halftime lead, OU didn’t come out strong to begin things. South Carolina took its first lead of the game and led by as much as 42-38.

But Jalon Moore and company were able to get it going for head coach Porter Moser. More importantly, OU was able to take care of the ball. After a disastrous 11 turnovers in the first half, the Sooners calmed down in the final 20 minutes. Just one in the second half.

“I think that’s the narrative of this team,” Moser said. “It was better winning basketball. When you cut your turnovers down—and it’s been a theme for us these last two days; we had an old school company mission statement: We need to play better winning basketball to win games. I thought we had 11 in the first half, and we talked about: How many were unforced? Just dribbling too deep. We really took care of it in the second half. Just way more urgency. I thought Jeremiah, he had zero in the second half, and he had the ball in his hands a ton. Also getting nine rebounds, eight assists, no turnovers, two steals.

“To get that narrative of getting the first one out of the way and getting our confidence back up to play winning basketball. So, that’s what—you’re going to have tons of opportunities in this league. We needed to log that first one so we could move forward, but there’s reasons why you win, and we had so many more shot attempts. We shot 59%; that’s all those possessions you didn’t turn it over, we got chances to score, and that’s winning basketball.”

A tight one at 59-54, OU pulled away with a 15-0 run. A feel-good moment for a team that needed one as badly as ever.

Game No. 18 OU Takeaways

*Moore was assertive early and never let up. If nothing was going on for OU offensively, Moore decided to attempt to make it happen.

Moore had 22 points and eight rebounds. But more than that? He simply said he wanted the ball time and time again. It was the mentality that mattered.

“When you’re going towards the rim, you get more calls than avoiding it,” Moser said. “When you avoid it, you don’t get into the guy’s body. I think he’s literally turning the corner and getting angles where, by rules, are fouls. He’s just been so much more physical. He’s finished in there through contact. I thought that was huge.”

*Just another all-around stat-stuffing type of game from freshman guard Jeremiah Fears. No, he couldn’t hit a 3-pointer Saturday, but he did just about everything else.

Fears had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. That’s his career high in assists and rebounds. He added two steals as well.

*Another quality outing by freshman Dayton Forsythe off the bench. Used in little spurts in both the first and second half, made them count.

He had five points, two rebounds and a beautiful assist to Fears to give OU the lead back at 49-47. It sure feels like Forsythe is going to see more action, deservedly so, going forward.

*Kobe Elvis hit four 3-pointers. His final one sending the LNC in a frenzy to take a 72-54 lead. He had 12 points.

Up next

A week off. A week to figure everything out. Rest the legs, get some mental rest. Recharge the batteries and attack the rest of the way. OU (14-4, 1-4) returns to action next Saturday night at Arkansas. The Razorbacks enter Saturday night as another 0-4 team in the SEC.