Porter Moser feels like OU has 'eight starters'

Think it caught some OU basketball fans off guard when John Hugley didn’t start the first game of the season. Expected to be one of the prized transfers for the Sooners, weird to see him coming off the bench.

It has been three games now, though. Head coach Porter Moser is very confident with what he’s doing with the lineup. And maybe more importantly, the bench players are doing a tremendous job of providing lift when their number is called.

The Sooners (3-0) look to continue that when Texas-Rio Grande Valley comes to Lloyd Noble Center 7 p.m. Friday.

The guys that have come off the bench have been outstanding. It’s what you want. They uplift. The level of play doesn’t go down. It’s a credit to them. From a psyche standpoint, everybody wants to start. You only have five in this game. What I feel and what I’ve translated to them is we have eight starters. We have eight guys that I believe can do it.

“That’s not coach-speak. I might have said that before in my career and maybe not meant it. I mean this with these guys. You have guys who have started at Power Five guys. I really don’t look at it like starters and non-starters. They’re all guys that are bringing a lot of value. It’s been key that when you go to the bench, they’ve uplifted the level of play.”

Those three coming off the bench initially are all multi-year starters at other programs in Hugley, Le’Tre Darthard and Rivaldo Soares.

It might seem like a lot to ask of guys who have played at such a high level to put ego to the side, but that’s why it’s working for OU.

The team-first mentality is shining through. Everybody is making their minutes count, and OU has, essentially, a second wave of scorers coming through every game.

“It’s hard because everybody wants to start,” Moser said. Thing is you have to keep the communication, the relationship, being about the right things and let them know their value and let them bring their value. There is a lot of communication that has to go on.

“To their credit, the thing about that is it’s OK that it bothers them. They just have to be able to handle it in a team concept and do that. They’ve done that. I want that. I’d be more worried if they didn’t care. The thing I love about it is they are handling it professionally. They’re handling it with a team-first mentality. As a staff, we’re letting them know how valuable those minutes are.”

Moore back flying around

Jalon Moore has been one of those starters when healthy. He looked the part again Tuesday evening, showing no ill effects from a hamstring injury.

Moore said he is feeling just fine. And Moser is glad that the most athletic piece to the OU puzzle back to doing what he does best.

“Jalon Moore’s energy, he’s getting his athleticism into the game,” Moser said. “He’s running the floor. He’s at the top of the press, getting deflections, crashing the glass. His energy, he plays with a joy of the game.

“I like his joy. Almost too much when he fouled the 3-point shooter when he thought he was gonna block the shot from 15-feet away. (Laughs). But he’s getting his athleticism into the game and the guys see that.”

Scouting UTRGV

“Their point guard, No. 1, just a jet. Really fast. No. 11, inside, he’s a crafty post player. I really like their talent level. They change defenses a lot. They’re going to press, going to zone, going to man. They’re going to change up a lot. You can’t just have lulls when they change. You got to be ready and execute when they change defenses. We got to stop their transition. I think with their speed, they get out and run. We’ve—for us, we’ve got to run.

“We’ve got to get—I think I told you this, guys, after the last game, but we missed 26 shots and we got 13 of them back. That’s 50%. That’s, like—really high. We want to keep trying to get a high rate of our offensive rebounds, so we can run.”