Sooner Men BB Host Texas State on Tuesday Night @ 7 PM in LNC

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooner Men's Basketball Team will host the Texas State Bobcats on Tuesday night for a 7:01 tipoff at Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and on the Varsity Network radio app and on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing and be broadcast by ESPN+ with Chad McKee (PxP) and Bryndon Manzer (analyst) on the call.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about OU's 3rd game of the season.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/11/1 ... on-tuesday

Texas State is 1-1 on their young season as that lost to Arkansas-Little Rock 66-71 and won over Miami (OH) 75-65. The Bobcats have started the same starting 5 in both games. They start a 3 forward, 2 guard lineup with 2 SRs, 2 JRs and one FR. The scoring is balanced as four of the five are averaging in double-digits. They have played four players off the bench and in the first game got 27 points off the bench but that output dropped to only 10 in the second game. Texas State has only played 3 players that are 6'7" or bigger, with two at 6'9". That should mean that the Sooners will have a size advantage tonight.

I am hopeful that Jalon Moore can play tonight after nursing a hamstring injury and missing the second game on Friday night. That might be expecting too much though as a hammy can be a tough muscle to heal in a short time period. I look for four of the starters to once again be Oweh, Uzan, Godwin, McCollum and either Darthard or Moore depending on Moore's hamstring. Hugley IV, Soares and Northweather will contribute off the bench inside as they relive the starters. Those are eight strong players for the Sooners with Northweather coming along nicely in his first efforts at OU. The Sooner guard tri-quad will need to continue to shoot the ball well from the outside which will allow Godwin, Hugley IV, Moore and Soares to step up inside for the Sooners. To me, Oweh, Moore and Soares are keys. I think if they play well, the Soones will play well. the rest of the cast of Sooners will do their parts to keep the Sooners winning.

I have liked the defensive efforts the first two games. The Sooners are hard to penetrate on defense and they do not give up too many uncontested shots as their athleticism is evident on every trip up and down the court. Texas State usually puts a decent team out in most every sport. OU needs to focus tonight and keep their season rolling along with a strong win tonight.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Buried at the bottom of the article for today game is the following info about the Class of 2024 Signees - Who play in 2024-25 as freshman. I remember hearing about the Dale player, but the other was new info for me.

2024 SIGNING CLASS
Dayton Forsythe, a 6-foot-2 combo guard, is a three-star prospect by On3, 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals. The Dale, Okla., product attended Dale High School and is the No. 1 recruit in Oklahoma by On3 and 247Sports.Forsythe was named the 2023 Tulsa World's State Boys Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the first junior to win the award since former Oklahoma standout Trae Young earned the honor after his 2015-16 campaign at Norman North. The Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association tabbed him as the 2023 2A Player of the Year and 2022 Region Player of the Year. He also garnered 2022 Tulsa Word All-State first team honors as a sophomore.

Forsythe led Dale to back-to-back Oklahoma Class 2A State Championships in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Dale remained unbeaten during the 2022-23 slate, finishing the season 32-0 and capping the year with a 78-52 triumph over Oklahoma Christian Academy. Forsythe recorded 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists. In the 2023 Tournament of Champions, Forsythe propelled Dale to the tournament crown and earned MVP honors, averaging 25.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists over three games. During his junior campaign, Forsythe averaged 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest. He shot 53% from the field, 40% from three and 81% from the free throw line. In the 2021-22 Class 2A title game, Forsythe tallied 37 points, eight rebounds and four assists, helping Dale win its first boy's championship in program history. The Pirates finished the season 29-2.

In 25 games for Team Griffin in the Nike EYBL, he averaged 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per outing. Forsythe shot 39% (89-229) from the field, 35% (35-101) from three and 84% (85-101) from the free throw line.

Kuol Atak, a 6-foot-9 forward, is a four-star prospect by On3 and ESPN and a three-star by 247Sports and Rivals. The Haltom City, Texas, product is ranked No. 70 nationally by On3, No. 113 by 247Sports and 127 by Rivals. He is the No. 3 prospect in Texas and No. 11 power forward by On3.

During the 2022-23 campaign, Atak averaged 22.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per outing. He shot 45% (223-499) from the field, 39% (92-237) from three and 89% (136-153) from the line. Atak was named to the Texas District 4 6A first team and earned team MVP honors for Haltom High School. As a sophomore, he averaged 9.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.3 assists per contest and was named Haltom's offensive player of the year. Atak earned Texas District 3 6A first team honors in 2021-22 and honorable mention accolades in 2020-21.

He competed on the NY2LA Association AAU circuit for 3D Empire and was named the top prospect at the U16 level. Atok averaged 31.0 points per outing in four games of the 2022 Mavs Fall Classic.

[OU Guy]

3+ minite video recap. Team is fast and using D to create O.

[OUBeliever56A]

I thought the Sooner Men played well last night. I know that Texas State is not a strong team, but I liked the way the Sooners just took care of business during the game. It was good to see everyone suited up for the Sooners as Jalon Moore and Kaden Cooper were on the floor in warmup. The way that the Sooners took care of business can be shown in the 4 minutes slices of time during the game. Here is how the Sooner dominated the game as they won 93-54.

1st half at 16:00 minutes - OU led 10-4. OU start a bit slow but they contested every shot, every dribble well on defense which kept the Bobcats from scoring.
1st half at 12:00 minutes - OU led 18-6 or the Sooners outscored TS by an 8-2 margin in the next 4 minutes.
1st half at 8:00 minutes - OU 29-10 or the Sooners outscored TS by an 11-4 margin in the next 4 minutes.
1st half at 4:0 minutes - OU led 38-17 or the Sooners outscored TS by a 9-7 margin in the next 4 minutes.
At half, the Sooners led 45-22 or OU outscored TS by an 8-5 margin in the next 4 minutes.
The Sooners just consistently played ball and almost doubled the scoring of Texas State in the first half. the key for the Sooners is the defensive pressure and the depth that allows almost every Sooner to be able to score on any possession.

In the second half the Sooners did not let up as they outscored the Bobcats 48-32. The Bobcats did come out of halftime and played well the first 4 minutes of the second half as they outscored OU 15-10 in that 4 minute slice. But after that, OU re-asserted themselves and won the remaining 16 minutes of the second half by the score of 38-17.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the easy, but earned 39-point victory by the Sooners.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/11/1 ... exas-state

The Sooners were led in scoring by McCollum and Darthard as they scored 15 and 14 points. Six Sooners added 7 to 12 points on the night as Hugley IV (12), Godwin (10), Oweh (9), Uzan (8), Cooper (8) and Moore (7) added real depth to the scoring. That is 83 points from 8 players in very balanced scoring and play. Soares (8), Hugley IV (7) and Godwin (6) led the way on the boards as OU outrebounded TS by a 43-32 margin.

Oklahoma is now 3-0 on the season.

I am really impressed by Javian McCollum the 6'2" guard. He is lightning quick, and can penetrate a defense and still get off quality shots inside and is a good shooter from outside as well. Darthard is a scorer off the bench and very effective doing so. Players like Moore and Soares give the Sooners a presence on the floor that I have not seen in a while While they are not BIG, they play very big as 6'7" and 6'6" players on the floor. Hugley IV is a center like OU has not had for quite a while I think. He takes up a lot of room and is a defiantly an enforcer underneath. He does jump out of the gym, but he takes up so much room, that often rebounds are just owned by Hugley IV. Oweh is perhaps the most talented player on the floor as he is learning how to be a force and score at this level. Uzan is a strong point guard that does his job and probably sacrifices scoring to pass out assists (5 last night). Godwin is just doing his jb in he middle getting rebounds and scoring when the opportunity is there. He had a nice offensive board and score last night due to hustle and effort.

The Sooners had only 12 turnovers last night and i can almost count them in my mind. Texas State tried to apply pressure an OU still handled the ball well. I also like the Sooners 3/4 court slow down press. Both Moore and Soares and even Oweh when asked are effective at the point of the press with their length and wingspan as they apply quasi-pressure. I do not think that mean to steal the ball but the pressure just slows down the opponent, but they still pick up two or three turnovers and quick buckets off the press. OU scored 19 points off of the 16 turnovers by Texas State and OU added 16 fast break points.

Oklahoma has scored 89, 82 and 93 points this season in their first three games. That is an 88 point per game average. Last year the Sooners scored over 88 points once and 80 points only three times. This Sooner team can score and that can score with many players unlike the last two seasons where the ball just died on offense as the Sooners dribbled or passed the shot clock to 1 before shooting. In this new season, it is two or three quick passes and either someone has an open shot or someone penetrates and goes to the rim. I think the ability to take the ball to the rim and play fast on offense as well as their defensive pressure proves that out when you look at the Sooners free shots this season. OU has shot 77 free shots and made 61 of them for a 79.2% from the line. OU's opponents have only shot 38 free throws this season in 3 games. That is with the Sooners playing a challenging style of defense almost every trip down the court. OU is only allowing an average of 52 points on defense in their first three games.

If you have given up on the Sooners Men's Team and Coach Moser, you should give them a look. It is a different ball game this year.

The schedule will ramp up during the Thanksgiving week and I am curious to see if the Sooners hold up to that play. After playing UT-Rio Grande Valley on Friday night, the Sooners will travel to San Diego to play iowa and then either USC or Seton Hall. I do not how the Big 12 play will play out with this version of the Sooners but I feel it will be much better. The two games in San Diego will give us some indication I think.

Last year the Sooners scored under 70 points 20 times in their 32 games. OU scored 60 or less 8 times last year. With OU depth this season and the number of scorers thay have, they probably will not score less 60 or less this season. They may not score less than 70 more than a handful of games, maybe two handfuls.

The Sooners play Friday night against UT-Rio Grande Valley on Friday at 7 PM. UTRGV is 1-2 on the new season as they have lost to South Dakota by 21 and to TCU by 33. the defeated Southwestern Adventist by 51 as they scored 110 to SW-Ad's 59.

Boomer Sooner!

[OU Guy]

This years team would beat last years team by over 20 points!