Oklahoma Sooner Men BB Look to Start quick Monday evening @ 7 PM

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Men's Basketball Team will host the Central Michigan Chippewas on Monday in the last half of the Monday opening DH'er at 7 PM [corrected to 7 PM] in Lloyd Noble Center. The first half of the DH'er is the Sooner Women BB'ers playing Wichita State at Noon.

The Sooner Men Basketball Team has a new look this season with 6 returners, 2 freshman and 7 transfers looked good against each other in their Crimson and Cream scrimmage on November 1st in the LNC. From all accounts of the game, the Sooners were more athletic and had several good shooters and had some force inside. The belief is that the Sooners will try to run more and avoid facing a set defense as much as possible in the upcoming season. The key to that will be controlling the boards and getting the first pass out to the midcourt area to take off on offense.

I simply do not know enough about the team to predict who will start tomorrow evening. If some her does, please inform us of your thoughts. But I would think that the starters would come from maybe these nine players. Returners, Uzan G -6'4", Oweh F -6'5", Goodwin F -6'10" and newcomers Darthard G -6'4", McCollum G -6'2", Moore F -6'7", Hugley F -6'10" and maybe Soares G -6'6". Maybe new faces Northweather Red-Fr C -6'11", Cooper FR G -6'5" and Cole FR F -6'7". Moser went with 3 Guards or small Forwards last year so the Sooners might start out with Goodwin and Hugley inside with one of Uzan and Oweh or both along with two or a single newcomer(s). But it does sound like depth is a plus this year, so the second five should be strong as well.

As for the Central Michigan squad. They have more new faces than the Sooners. Their roster is made up of 3 returners 6 Freshman, 1 Redshirt Freshman and 6 transfers.

The Central Michigan Chippewas won their 1st exhibition game over Div II - Norwood 81-55. They then defeated Div III - Alma 97-32.

After the Chippewas won their 2nd exhibition game on October 29th, Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "We're long, we're athletic, we have defensive instincts, and when you have guards that can pressure the ball like we have and not get beat, it allows that length to get into passing lanes and that results in getting deflections that leads to steals and good things. We want to use our length, our athleticism, want to use our ability to defend and competitive spirit to turn it into quick offense."

Coach Barbee sounds positive after winning over a Div II and Div III team, doesn't he? Looking at the roster, they have one 7'0" whose name did not get mentioned in the highlights of their two games, and a 6'10" player whose name was mentioned and is a returning player with starts. The do have a returning Guard who is a GRad Student who at one time played at Illinois-Chicago.

Good luck to the Sooner men tomorrow night. The Sooners certainly do not want to start out like last year when Sam Houston surprised the Sooners with a defeat by 1 point in their opening game.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the opening game on Monday night.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/11/5 ... l-michigan

The game is on ESPN+ and the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App).

Boomer Sooner!

[MsProudSooner]

SoonerSports.com says game time is 7PM.

https://soonersports.com/sports/mens-ba ... l/schedule

[OUBeliever56A]

SoonerSports.com says game time is 7PM.

https://soonersports.com/sports/mens-ba ... l/schedule

Thanks, I will update my post thank you!

[OU Guy]

[OUBeliever56A]

I must say that I am somewhat impressed by the talent that Coach Moser has brought to the Sooners and Lloyd Noble Center for the 2023-2024 season. His 6 new transfers showed up last night and from what i saw, they all played well. The athletic ability and the size that they bring to the Sooners for this year is refreshing. It seems like everyone jumps out of the LNC this season. I think we will see frequent impressive individual efforts at times this year. We saw a couple last night.

The game against Central Michigan was a test. Was it a great test, I do not know. But I think THIS Coach Moser team would not have been surprised by a team like Sam Houston last year But I also think Central Michigan is not what Sam Houston was last season.

The Sooners sent out 3 returners and 2 transfers to start the game with Milos Uzan, Otega Oweh and Javian McCollum at G and Jalen Moore and Sam Goodwin at F. In the first seven minutes of the game five other Sooners had played as Le'Tre Darthard G, John Hugley IV C, Rivaldo Soares G and Luke Northweather C had played minutes. When Uzan scored inside the paint the score was tied at 12-12 with 13:12 left in the 1st half. that was about the last time the outcome of the game was in doubt. In the next 2:45 minutes OU outscored the Chippewas 11-0 and took an 11 point lead (23-12) that was emphasized by a great running lob pass from Uzan to Jalon Moore for a powerful dunk from the baseline. It was very nice! From that point in the 1st half OU outscored CM 17-9 to take a 40-21 point lead into halftime.

The Sooners kept Central Michigan at bay in the second half as the Sooner led never got below 13 before Oklahoma finished with a flurry to win by 30 points with their 89 - 59 win in the opening game of the 2023-24 Season.

One note about the game that may prove to be a NEW Trend for the Sooners. Last night the Sooners shot 30 free shots and made 24 of them for an 80% performance at the charity stripe. The Chippewas only shot 13 free throws. OU only committed 14 fouls in the game compared to drawing 24 fouls by CM. I cannot remember too many games last year where OU had that kind of an advantage at the free throw line and fouls. I think this is a testimony to the Sooners athleticism that they have. Every one of the Sooners (10 deep that I saw last night) can run, can play defense and can jump. and they are quick. (Kaden Cooper was the 10th player lat night for the Sooners and the freshman has some talent.) What is even better is this. Only two of the top 10 players will leave after this season if everything goes well.

I am impressed how physical the Sooners can be. Hugley IV, Moore, Soares, Oweh and even Godwin and Northweather can body up people and get on the boards. Oweh led the Sooners with 8 rebounds last night.

The scoing was led by MCCollum with 19 on 7 of 12 from the field. Oweh added 18 on 8 of 13 shooting and Hugley IV added 10 points 3 of 4 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. About the scoring. The Sooners scored 89 points last night. Last season, the Sooners scored 80+ points only three times. Against Central Arkansas, Alabama and Texas. It is amazing how much of an outlier that Alabama win was last year. The Sooners scoring and defense led to the Sooners 30 point win in the opening game. They Sooners did not win by more than 24 points last year (Bama game) and only won by 20 points four times.

The defensive effort was there last night. The Sooners can play defense outside as they are quick to cut off drives or to funnel the ball towards help. Oklahoma also showed a 1-2-2 full court 'press' to slow down the other team and that did work and it did not lead to easy buckets against the Sooners as they controlled the ball well. Inside, every shot was challenged and every rebound earned by CM. I did notice that when a shot goes up, the Sooners do go to the bucket, but they may be going a bit too deep. CM often pressed the Sooners further under the basket leading them to a CM offensive rebound of which their were only 5 last night. OU had 14 offensive rebounds. I was pretty impressed by the thought that if the Sooners go 'big' with a 'frontline' of Hugley, Moore and Soares they are wide, stong, big and can be very tough. Those three are only 6'10", 6'7" and 6'6" but they play so much bigger. If the Sooners put any of 5 players at guard with those three, I think the Sooners can for a while play with a good number of teams. Godwin and Northweather also give additional depth up front with smart, effective play inside.

OU took care of the ball last night with 13 turnovers, 7 steals and 8 assists and 7 blocks. The blocks were by 7 different Sooners.

Count me in as a fan of this new look Sooner team that Coach Moser has put together. I think for the first time, this team can dictate action at times even against good teams. The quality depth is deep. My first look at the Sooners was something that I did not quite expect. It was something that surprised me.

i hope that Jalon Moore will be at near full speed next game as he tweaked a right leg I think on a couple tough plays last night in a couple of minutes as he went to the floor hard. Everyone else seemed to come through the game last night unscathed.

The Sooners will take their 1-0 record into the their next game against Mississippi Valley State on Friday night at LNC in a 7 PM tipoff.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the win last night.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/11/6 ... -in-opener

Moser on the defensive effort …
"I thought our first half defense from the 15-minute mark on was very good. We have a lot to work on. There were a lot of good things. We forced 17 turnovers. That is really good in what we are trying to do – be active, be more athletic and long, and create."

Moser on players coming off the bench …
"We came in with some veterans. We came in with athleticism. Rivaldo (Soares) and Le'Tre (Darthard) hit threes in that run. It is really good and that allows them to get going. When you can get your bench come in. John (Hugley IV) off the bench had 10 and Luke (Northweather) hit that big shot and it was good to see one fall in."

Boomer Sooner!