OU basketball tested but comes out on top

Every head coach doesn’t mind a little adversity, but that was probably more than what OU head coach Porter Moser was thinking.

In the second game of the season and already having to come from behind at halftime? That’s what the Sooners had to do.

The good news, though, is OU did just that. Down a couple of shooters, OU grinded its way to the 73-57 victory against visiting Northwestern State on Monday night.

The Sooners trailed 34-28 at halftime and 40-32 early in the second half before star Jalon Moore started to assert himself.

It never came easy the rest of the night, but the Sooners brought a lot more intensity in the second 20 minutes to avoid the ‘epitome of brutality.’

“We were getting downhill a lot more, being aggressive,” Moser said. “I thought that was some of the things we were doing with ball-screens. But when we have drought scoring, we’re going to have—especially with Brycen and Jadon out. Those are two weapons that can really quick-triggers threes.

“We’ve got to defense and rebound. In the second half, I thought we defended and rebounded. We gave up six offensive rebounds to a team we watched get 14 the other night, forced 20 turnovers. We only had nine ourselves, did a lot of things we can hang our hat on.”

Biggest shot came from Glenn Taylor Jr., a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to give OU a 63-53 lead. First moment when you felt you could breathe just a little easier for OU.

OU Game 2 Takeaways

*It had to be Jalon Moore. You cannot have your best player only have four points and two rebounds like he did in the first half.

He turned it up in a hurry in the second half. Aggressive in taking it to the basket. Doing a much better job on the glass.

“Going downhill,” Moser said. “You know, we were just trying to be aggressive and go downhill with him. It creates rotations when other people go downhill. I thought we just had way better movement going downhill. He finished. He got to the foul line.

“That always gets guys going, is getting to the foul line. He was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. That always gets it going. He stepped in and knocked down a big shot.”

Moore scored 19 of his 23 in the second half and added seven rebounds. That’s what a leader is supposed to do.

*OU had to get creative, for lack of a better term. With two of its top shooters out in Brycen Goodine and Jadon Jones, the second half was about being strong with the ball.

OU attempted 14 3-pointers in the first half and cut that number down drastically. Instead, it was about driving hard and forcing the contact. The Sooners were 3-for-14 in the first half and 3-for-7 in the second from 3-point territory.

The Sooners, after all, cashed in at the free throw line as well, going 17 of 22.

*You just have to ride the wave with freshman Jeremiah Fears. No other way to say it. There is going to be a lot of good mixed in with some rough moments.

If it doesn’t negatively affect Fears, let him figure it out. He had four turnovers in the first half. Turned around with just two in the second half to go with four steals and 15 points.

“It’s gonna be part of his growth process,” Moser said. “He can make so much happen. He’s got so much speed that we need. Can go downhill. He can get rotations going better than anyone on our team. The more he minutes, the more time, the more situations, he’s gonna slow down and see when they come rotating over. They were trying to come over and just fly at him. Hands going everywhere, playing off two feet, making the simple pass…

“Film study, minutes, experience, kid’s got a great attitude for that. But with young (guys), we’re gonna live through those turnovers and realize those are tough ones down the stretch. He’ll get better. Makes a lot of good things for us happen.”

Up next

OU (2-0) is back to the Lloyd Noble Center when Stetson comes to Norman 1 p.m. Saturday. Obviously, all eyes will be on whether Brycen Goodine or Jadon Jones are able to return to the lineup. OU wants to shoot, but it’s a lot harder when you don’t have the shooters available.

“Brycen is a day-to-day,” Moser told SoonerScoop. “Jadon might be a little longer, but It’s trending upward with him. We’re confident, feel like it’s moving in a great direction.

“Brycen is one of those ankles you guys have covered for decades. When it’s ready, it’s ready. Hoping it’s sooner than later. No more than your traditional ankle turn that swelled up. When he’s confident that he can cut and not put him in jeopardy, we’re going to play him.