OU basketball with a season-defining week coming up

A lot of people laughed, maybe even rightfully so, but OU head coach Porter Moser kept saying it. There are opportunities there.

Now, yes, the Sooners weren’t exactly cashing in on those chances. But they were there. In a five-game losing streak, four games were against ranked opponents.

OU snapped that skid, but it was also against a ranked opponent in Mississippi State. Because the narrative is true that OU can punch its own ticket to the NCAA Tournament by taking care of its own business.

Whatever wins the Sooners can get from here? They’re all big time. They’re all going to resonate with Quad 1 wins and the NET Rankings and the eye test for those watching.

Saturday afternoon was great for the Sooners (17-10, 4-10). A feel-good moment those players needed. Now? You have to do it again with Kentucky making its first-ever trip to the Lloyd Noble Center at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Sliding doors week?

This week features two games against a few players that absolutely turned the roster upside down. The Wildcats have OU transfer Otega Oweh and big-man transfer Brandon Garrison.

When OU goes to Ole Miss on Saturday, the Sooners are playing against Sean Pedulla. There’s a scenario last spring where all three guys are in the crimson and cream.

Brandon Garrison: 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds
Otega Oweh: 15.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals
Sean Pedulla: 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals

Oweh still has some of his flaws at Kentucky, but he has been maximized for what he does incredibly well. He’s coming off his worst performance of the season, two points in a loss at Alabama. Before that? He had scored in double-digits every single game.

Garrison was the prized jewel for the Sooners in the transfer portal. OU knew it needed to get bigger and stronger. The Sooners did everything in their power to bring Garrison back home. But it didn’t work, and Mo Wague became the guy.

Pedulla, another in-state prospect from Edmond Memorial, was thought to be a lock for the Sooners after entering the portal from Virginia Tech. Everybody was feeling good after his official visit, but it didn’t work out.

He went to Ole Miss and has been what the Rebs were hoping he would be. That opened the door for Kobe Elvis/Duke Miles, but just an interesting case of what might have been across the board this week for Moser and staff.

Fears turning the corner… again

That’s back-to-back games of at least 20 points for Jeremiah Fears. It was punctuated by his first-career double-double with 27 points and 10 assists in the win vs. Mississippi State.

If he can sustain that, the last few weeks get that much more interesting.

“When you’re not having success, you just press harder,” Moser said. “When you’re older, you kind of know how to fight through that and what to do to get through it. I think he’s figured it out. We’ve really showed just so much film with him talking through it, about the attention he’s garnering, that when you give it up, and you start hitting the roles, hitting the roles, you’re skipping it for threes.

“He had 10 assists, but I think he could have had 15 or 16 tonight. It’s the most he’s set up guys, and it’s the most points he’s had in a while. and I think he’s the correlation of understanding, hey, if they’re going to double me, I gotta get it out of that trap fast. I thought he played such a better floor game, with better process, of teaching, tons of film work with him, situational stuff. But I think some things are freeing up for him, because he’s setting up other guys, and now they just can’t load up on him.”