Oklahoma returns to action on their home floor on Saturday when they host No. 9 Kansas at the Lloyd Noble Center. The game will be the second matchup with the Jayhawks in a two-week span after the Sooners fell in a close battle in Lawrence 63-59.
That game was the first one with Elijah Harkless in the starting lineup in place of Brady Manek after he was taken away due to COVID-19 protocols, and really the beginning of Oklahoma’s dominant defensive stretch.
Since that game, the Sooners have played lockdown defense at a clip that has been a night and day difference from what we saw from the team earlier in the season. Now, with Manek expected to be much more back in the fold than he was on Tuesday night against Kansas State, the challenge of keeping that up heightens.
“The big thing for us is that we’ve made progress getting to the ball,” Lon Kruger said this week. “Getting to the shooters, contesting 3-point shots better, being a bit more physical in general.”
The beginning of the season for Oklahoma was a much more fast-paced, high volume 3-point shooting team that tried to outscore their opponent. Now, they aim to clamp up who they face on the defensive end to get out in transition and hope to win that way. The latter seems to be certainly a path to success given the results of the last couple of weeks.
Now with Manek slowly getting back to his normal speed, a Kansas rematch is a big test for the Sooners to keep this up on two fronts given the tough opponent and with him now serving a larger role once again. The team won’t want to lose their rhythm given that they enter this game playing arguably it’s best ball of the season.
“They’re rolling right now,” Manek said this week. “The number of steals, defensive stops, holding teams to low numbers and still scoring on the offensive end. We’re rolling right now and we got a really good team.”
Two weeks ago, Oklahoma nearly pulled off the big road upset win over the Jayhawks largely behind their defensive effort. Finding a way to adjust from the first matchup and replicate that success feels paramount to them trying to finish the deal this time around.
“When you play a team a second time, I think everyone relies more on that first meeting than they do any other opponent that you scout,” Kruger said. “They’ll take a lot away from that game, just like we will.”
The Sooners will host Kansas at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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