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OU basketball with ultimate gauntlet week, at No. 1 Auburn, vs. No. 4 Tennessee

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•about 11 hours•

BPrzybylo

Jalon Moore19
OU senior Jalon Moore. (Alonzo Adams - Imagn Images)

There was definitely some celebration for OU basketball on Saturday afternoon. Allowed after scoring 61 points in the second half to take down No. 24 Vanderbilt 97-67 at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Celebration, and maybe a little relief. OU, for the most part, played two quality games at Texas A&M and against the Commodores. Had OU gone 0-2 there, well, don’t look at the schedule.

Because this week is about as absurd as it gets. OU is at No. 1 Auburn at 8 p.m. Tuesday on SEC Network. Then comes home, OK, but it’s against No. 4 Tennessee.

It’s why head coach Porter Moser has been so adamant for everybody to ignore conference affiliation for the NCAA Tournament. OU could go 0-2 this week, and it doesn’t mean the Sooners have faltered or aren’t a tournament quality team.

That’s life in the SEC. You can lament some of those early games in conference, but OU is 3-1 in its last four SEC games.

A 3-5 record is not a bad one, and this week is a ridiculous challenge. But also a chance to play free. A week, especially against the Tigers, of absolutely zero expectations.

Nobody, admit it, nobody expects OU to go into Auburn and pull off the upset. And the Vols won’t be a picnic, either.

Instead of being tense or pressed, go out and ball. Play free, relaxed and see what happens. A week where 1-1 would be something to toast about.

It begins Tuesday.

Moser on Jalon Moore

OU senior Jalon Moore surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the win vs. Vandy. And you just get the feeling of what senior night is going to be like when Moser has to talk about what Moore has meant to him and the program.

Moore scored 15 of his 19 points in that electric second half.

“Man, he’s so… we’ll lots of time to talk about this later, but like, he’s just, he just means a lot to me and the way and how hard he plays, and his mind is pure. He didn’t get off to a great start. He really took it on that he didn’t get that first block out of the game after the emphasis on rebounding, and he just kept his mind right. Got the two fouls. I told him I was gonna play him. I played him, but it was only like a minute and a half, two minutes, but at least it was the confidence in me knowing that, ‘Hey, I’m still playing you with two fouls.’

“And even though it was two minutes, that sends a message. And I thought we talked about winning the first four minutes. I said, ‘man, we were terrible the first four minutes at A&M. We gotta win the first four minutes.’ And he was just… his leadership and his voice. Even the first play of the half was terrible, too. He drove by us and laid it up. Even with that, then we went on a run after that. But I just thought he was just such a leader with his voice and his effort.”

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