OU basketball vaults to No. 11 in AP poll
OK, OU basketball knows what the Big 12 is all about in the first two weeks. From all the good and the bad and everything in between.
A week removed from an 0-2 rough spot, Oklahoma bounced back with a 2-0 week. The victories put the Sooners at No. 11 in Monday’s AP poll.
It was imperative for head coach Porter Moser to get the group back on track. Too many times in his first two seasons, a bad stretch spilled into another.
Not only did the Sooners bounce back, but they got a huge road win at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Everybody knows the Big 12 recipe. Hold serve at home and steal a few on the road. If you do that, you’re going to be just fine.
Now about holding serve at home? OU has two opportunities this week to do just that. The Sooners welcome Texas and now-No. 20 Texas Tech to the Lloyd Noble Center.
A good week, and OU could be 17-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12. Moser won’t allow himself to do that, going one game at a time. But this is a prime chance for the Sooners to flex their muscles a bit.
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Rounding out the Big 12 in the top 25: No. 4 Houston, No. 7 Kansas, No. 15 Baylor, No. 20 Texas Tech, No. 21 BYU, No. 23 Iowa State.
OU Player of the Week
It’s not always about stats. The winner here, for the first week we’re doing this, is Rivaldo Soares because he proved he is not going to drift away. That stretch at TCU and Kansas was a disaster for Soares. But he responded like a veteran should last week. It’s not just about points (13, 8), but it’s about the way he went about playing the game. Soares still played his tough defense and added rebounding. But he found a way to get to the rim and force contact. No reason to just rely on standing outside and shooting threes.
Team of the Week
Going to Manhattan and Kansas State. KSU was one of those teams that didn’t have to leave home for the week and took advantage. After a gut-wrenching loss at Texas Tech last weekend, the Wildcats responded with a huge overtime win against Baylor. And then added a home victory vs. Oklahoma State. KSU is tied with Tech for the conference lead at 4-1… just like we all expected. KSU, OU and Houston were the sole teams to go 2-0 last week.
This week
Again, the opportunity is there. A real chance for the Sooners to separate in the early standings. It begins with Texas (6 p.m. Tuesday) and then Tech comes to OU on Saturday. The Red Raiders game is a little interesting because Tech doesn’t play a mid-week game. Tech will enter the Lloyd Noble Center at 15-3 on Saturday afternoon.
