One of the more pleasant surprises for this year’s Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team has been the growth of [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag]. Oweh went from playing 13 minutes per game and averaging just under five points a game a season ago to 26 minutes and 14 points per game this season.
In conference play, however, Oweh has struggled. He’s averaged 9.5 points per game. After shooting better than 60% from the field for much of the season, he’s shooting just 29% in Big 12 play. But these last three games, he’s finding ways to impact the game for the Sooners.
He’s one of their better defenders. He’s also averaging seven rebounds per game during that stretch. Oweh had 10 in their win over West Virginia to earn the double-double.
“He started out 0-8,” Porter Moser said of his sophomore forward. “Then he ended 5-16 so he was five for his last eight but he still had 10 rebounds and five steals. That’s not having your offense dictate your defense after starting out 0-8. I just told him to keep going up strong and get to that foul line. But you’ve got to keep defending. You’ve got to be a relentless defender.”
That’s the standard Moser seems to be trying to implement at Oklahoma. A lot of players nowadays get down when their offense isn’t flowing, and then their defense takes a hit. Moser is making sure that doesn’t happen now or going forward. Oweh’s performance is an example of the pride this team takes on the defensive end of the floor.
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