Tag: Elijah Harkless

Oklahoma men’s basketball still sits just outside the USA TODAY Sports top-25

The USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll still has OU in the receiving votes section entering a big week.

Oklahoma has been knocking on the door of the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll for some time.

The Sooners are still just on the outside looking in of the latest edition with 29 points in the receiving votes section. If ranked all the way out, that would place Oklahoma No. 28 nationally.

OU resided in the receiving votes category every week throughout the month of December. This week’s 29 points represent Oklahoma’s season-high tally. Previously, the Sooners’ best total came in the Dec. 20 Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll when OU received 21 points.

A chance to impress exists for Oklahoma this week. The Sooners travel to Waco to take on defending national champion and No. 1 Baylor on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. before playing host to No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

After Baylor at No. 1, the rest of the top five looks like this: No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Gonzaga and No. 5 UCLA.

Kansas checks in at No. 6 and is followed by No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 USC, No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Michigan State.

Texas at No. 16 and Texas Tech at No. 25 are the other two Big 12 schools that are ranked in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

As is expected in the rugged Big 12, the month of January is littered with challenging games for the Sooners.

Following this week, OU has a trip to No. 16 Texas, home dates with No. 6 Kansas and No. 1 Baylor and a road trip to West Virginia who join the Sooners in the receiving votes section.

Here’s a look at the full Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Baylor (32) 13-0 800 –
2 Duke 11-1 760 –
3 Purdue 12-1 713 –
4 Gonzaga 11-2 693 –
5 UCLA 8-1 657 –
6 Kansas 11-1 654 –
7 Arizona 11-1 559 –
8 USC 12-0 517 +1
9 Auburn 12-1 512 +2
10 Michigan State 12-2 507 –
11 Iowa State 12-1 450 -3
12 Ohio St 9-2 412 –
13 Kentucky 11-2 344 +4
14 Houston 12-2 328 –
15 Villanova 9-4 286 +7
16 Texas 11-2 285 +2
17 Providence 13-1 284 +4
18 Tennessee 9-3 253 -3
19 Colorado St 10-0 229 +1
20 Alabama 10-3 223 -1
21 LSU 12-1 208 -5
22 Seton Hall 9-3 160 -9
23 Wisconsin 10-2 156 –
24 Xavier 11-2 136 –
25 Texas Tech 10-2 110 –

Schools Dropped Out

None

Others Receiving Votes

Illinois 37; Connecticut 30; Oklahoma 29; Loyola-Chicago 16; Arkansas 15; Minnesota 14; San Francisco 6; Brigham Young 5; Saint Mary’s 4; Florida 4; West Virginia 2; Florida State 1; Davidson 1

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Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners survive second-half flurry, top Kansas State State 71-69

Oklahoma dispatched of Kansas State, 71-69, on New Year’s Day to start Big 12 play 1-0. Here’s three things that stood out.

Oklahoma started Big 12 play with a 71-69 home win over Kansas State. After OU built a 15-point first-half lead and held a 33-22 halftime lead, the Wildcats made Oklahoma earn it late.

Here are three thoughts from Oklahoma’s Big 12 opener.

Elijah Harkless was clutch again

K-State sophomore Ish Massoud hit a 3-pointer to tie it up at 65 apiece with 1:03 to play in the second half. Oklahoma senior guard Elijah Harkless responded with the go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds remaining and the Sooners managed to hang on to start 1-0 in Big 12 play.

Harkless connected on all four of his three-point tries and finished with 21 points to lead the Sooners in scoring.

“Pretty comfortable I’d say. My teammates believed in me, telling me to take those shots. When you’ve got everybody in your corner, believe in your work and everything else will take care of itself,” Harkless said of his willingness to take shots late in games.

Senior guard Umoja Gibson added 19 points, redshirt senior guard Jordan Goldwire had 11 and junior forward Jalen Hill and freshman guard C.J. Noland each scored 10.

Kansas State got red-hot from 3-point range

After hitting just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half, Kansas State knocked down 9-of-16 from long range in the second half.

Missouri transfer Mark Smith finished with 25 points to lead the Wildcats. In the process, he became the first K-State player since All-American Michael Beasley to record a 25-point, 15-rebound game.

“You’ve got to give Kansas State credit. Second half, they were on fire. Nine for 16 from three. I thought Massoud, I thought Mark Smith was outstanding. Nijel Pack. The shots they made to keep coming and not quitting, you’ve got to give them credit. They just kept on coming, making big shots, deep shots that when you think if you get a couple stops, you’ve got the game. Nine for 16 with the way we’ve been guarding,” Oklahoma head basketball coach Porter Moser said.

As Moser pointed out, a lot of it was simply great shot-making from Kansas State. It was also important that OU managed to pull this game out after seeing its 15-point lead evaporate.

“It was huge because we had a 15-point lead and they crept back in. To find a way to win that game, it was big for us because it’s going to be a grind in this league,” Moser said.

Oklahoma won the game minus its leading scorer

Oklahoma was without the services of three players due to health and safety protocols, including its leading scorer and rebounder in senior center Tanner Groves.

Groves came into tonight averaging 14.3 points and six rebounds per game. The Sooners were also minus junior forward Jacob Groves or freshman guard Bijan Cortes.

Moser was happy with how his team responded to being shorthanded against Kansas State.

“I think the biggest thing was coming back from Christmas you know the fatigue is always going to be an issue that first game and then all of a sudden we find out we’re going to be three down. We had a lot of guys have to play a lot of minutes that they haven’t played before. To guard Kansas State, their movement, their slips, their flares. They’re hard to guard. All of a sudden that’s one of the most minutes we’ve played all year. A lot of minutes because we’re shorthanded, but we found a way to win,” Moser said.

Up next:

Oklahoma enters this week set to square off against a pair of top-10 opponents. On Tuesday at 6 p.m., OU travels to Waco to battle defending national champion and No. 1 Baylor. Then, the Sooners will host No. 8 Iowa State on Saturday inside the Lloyd Noble Center at 5 p.m.

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Oklahoma receiving votes in newest Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

After convincing wins over then-No. 10 Arkansas and UT Arlington, OU is receiving votes in the newest Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.

Oklahoma is still on the outside looking in of the newest Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.

The Sooners received 21 points in the receiving votes category. That total is up from the 13 points Oklahoma received in the Dec. 13 poll and the seven points OU received in the Dec. 6 poll.

Defending national champion Baylor is the nation’s No. 1 team for the second consecutive week. The Bears received 800 points and are 10-0 after winning at Oregon over the weekend 78-70.

Duke is ranked No. 2 and Purdue is No. 3. Gonzaga and Arizona each received 673 points and are both ranked No. 4.

The rest of the top 10 looks like this: No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Kansas, No. 8 Iowa State, No. 9 USC and No. 10 Michigan State.

Two other Big 12 teams are ranked in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. Texas is ranked No. 17 and Texas Tech just snuck into the poll at No. 25.

West Virginia is also in the receiving votes category where the Mountaineers received 23 points.

Senior guard Umoja Gibson led the Sooners with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds in Oklahoma’s 70-50 win over UT Arlington.

Afterwards, Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser praised his guard’s ability to accept coaching and Gibson’s work ethic.

“Everybody respects him because of how hard he works. He puts in so much time with his shot. I mean, he’s here like literally almost every single morning getting extra shots in. What I love about Mo is I challenged him after the Butler game to do more than shooting and I challenged him pretty aggressively.

“He took it to heart. Sometimes you can coach a really good player hard and try to tell them the truth and they don’t believe it. Even if he didn’t believe it, he went out and tried to prove that he’s a better defender, better rebounder, more all-around player. Man, he has done a lot of different things. His best couple defensive games the last couple games, his best rebounding games and he’s been more of a complete player. That’s a credit to him and his character,” Moser said.

Oklahoma returns to action on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center when the Sooners host Alcorn State.

Full Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Baylor 10-0 800 –
2 Duke 10-1 754 –
3 Purdue 10-1 689 +1
4 Gonzaga 9-2 673 –
4 Arizona 11-0 673 –
6 UCLA 9-1 670 -3
7 Kansas 9-1 639 –
8 Iowa State 11-0 501 +3
9 USC 12-0 480 –
10 Michigan State 9-2 446 +2
11 Alabama 9-2 422 -3
12 Auburn 10-1 412 +2
13 Ohio State 8-2 400 +2
14 Houston 10-2 398 -1
15 Seton Hall 9-1 383 +1
16 LSU 11-0 254 +4
17 Texas 8-2 243 –
18 Kentucky 8-2 217 +3
19 Tennessee 8-2 215 -1
20 Xavier 11-1 204 +5
21 Colorado St 10-0 203 +2
22 Villanova 7-4 158 -12
23 Providence 11-1 149 +4
24 Wisconsin 9-2 129 +2
25 Texas Tech 8-2 89 -1

Schools Dropped Out

No. 19 Arkansas; No. 22 Connecticut

Others Receiving Votes

Arkansas 36; Connecticut 34; Illinois 24; West Virginia 23; Oklahoma 21; Loyola-Chicago 16; Minnesota 15; San Francisco 12; Wake Forest 9; Saint Mary’s 3; Florida 2; Brigham Young 2; Michigan 1; Indiana 1

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Oklahoma bounces back, hands No. 10 Arkansas first loss inside BOK Center 88-66

Oklahoma routed No. 10 Arkansas 88-66 behind 21 points from senior guard Elijah Harkless inside the BOK Center.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 13-0 lead and raced away from No. 10 Arkansas in the game’s final 9:55 from inside the BOK Center in Tulsa after the Razorbacks had made it a one-possession game.

Senior guard Elijah Harkless paved the way for Oklahoma, scoring a team-high 21 points, including eight in the first four minutes and change. Then, after Arkansas made it a one-score game at 57-54, OU finished the game with a flurry to win going away 88-66.

The Sooners bounced back emphatically from the loss earlier in the week to Butler where OU saw a 13-point lead evaporate.

“You know, I thought it started with our defense and obviously making some shots, but, you know, executing some things we wanted to do. I think that was a big part of it. Rebounding. We have a ton of respect for how they rebound the ball and we got outrebounded the last game against Butler and really had a tough 72 hours talking about what we needed to do to beat Arkansas and it started with rebounding. I thought we set the tone. We really challenged the guards for some rebounding. Elijah had 11, Jalen had eight. Even Mo had three in the first half. We just said we needed all hands on deck to rebound against an elite rebounding team. I think the guys came out from the jump with an edge and it came into the game. Sometimes you can come out with an edge and then you don’t transform it into the game and I thought our guys did for 40 minutes,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said.

Moser said he felt the 3-pointer that Harkless hit against Butler to force overtime carried over into this game against Arkansas.

“What I loved that I’m really seeing is he hit that shot to go into overtime against Butler and he had been really struggling with his shot. He works his tail off on it. He’s in the gym nonstop. I think he just got his confidence back after that shot. He hit one in overtime. He hit some tonight. I think he’s got his confidence back. Defending, rebounding, I thought he was excellent,” Moser said of Harkless’ performance against the Hogs.

Harkless has shot just 26 percent from three-point distance thus far this season but he has connected on 4-of-9 3-pointers over the Sooners’ past two games.

“That’s something that I work on a lot. You know, I just kind of didn’t have a good start to the season, but I think opportunities will catch up to me because I put in the work every single day. Just kind of falling for it right now and I hope to continue it and keep showing everybody else that I can really shoot the ball. Coaches believe in me, my teammates believe in me, so I mean it’s kind of on me to believe in myself and make it happen,” Harkless said.

It was the first time Arkansas was held below 70 points in a game this season. Oklahoma held the Razorbacks to just 34 percent field goal shooting overall and just 29 percent from three-point range as Arkansas lost for the first time in its 2021-22 campaign.

The difference in four days time on the glass was stark for OU. After being out rebounded by 13 and surrendering 15 offensive rebounds against Butler, the Sooners bounced back by winning the rebound margin against Arkansas 36-29.

“I think it’s just finishing possessions defensively. I think we did a great job of just defending Butler on the initial kind of actions and shots, the first shot, but they got a lot of second chance opportunities that helped them win that game. I think coach made a big emphasis in practice, you know, coming into this game on just finishing possessions defensively and just rebounding honestly and that’s just something that we did really well tonight,” Harkless said.

All five Oklahoma starters finished with double-figure scoring. Harkless had 21, Tanner Groves scored 16, Jordan Goldwire added 14, Umoja Gibson finished with 12 and Jalen Hill chipped in with 11.

It’s the second top-15 win already for OU. The Sooners beat then-No. 12 Florida last week 74-67.

Oklahoma has two games left before starting Big 12 play on New Year’s Day against Kansas State. Up next, OU plays host to UT Arlington on Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. and then Alcorn State at 7 p.m. on Dec. 22.

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What role does Jordan Goldwire have for the 2021 Oklahoma Sooners?

A deeper look at what Jordan Goldwire brings to the Oklahoma Sooners basketball program

The Oklahoma Sooners head into the 2021 season under new leadership and with a slew of new players. Lon Kruger retired in March, and in steps Porter Moser. Moser accepted the gig and moved on from Loyola-Chicago. Moser’s most successful season at Loyola–Chicago came in 2017–18, with a 32–6 (15–3 Missouri Valley Conference) record, MVC regular season and tournament titles, and appearance in the Final Four as a no. 11 seed. In 2020-2021, Moser led the eighth-seeded Ramblers to the elite eight before losing to Oregon State.

Once he was hired, Moser immediately knew he had to mold the Sooners into the identity he wanted for his program. A tough, gritty, defensive-minded group that gets after teams with ball pressure for a full forty minutes.

With the NCAA granting players an extra year of eligibility due to the challenges of COVID, Moser garnered the nickname “Portal Moser” as he hit the transfer portal hard.

One of his biggest finds? A former Duke player. Duke is without a doubt one of the sport’s titans. Year in and year out, the Blue Devils land top-five recruiting classes heightened by the one-and-done experience. Guys who stick around for multiple years sometimes have no choice but to leave if they want to have more playing time, and that’s what point guard Jordan Goldwire did.

He left Duke and entered the portal in an attempt to get more playing time that may have been hard to come by with a few highly touted freshman guards coming in. Duke will miss him. Still, he offers a lot to this Oklahoma program and will serve as the perfect one-year player as Moser settles down in Norman.

Goldwire comes to Norman after playing 116 games for Duke.

The 6-foot-2 guard from Norcross, GA, averaged 5.8 points, 4.0 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game last year at Duke.

Goldwire had a solid year for the Blue Devils despite Duke’s failure to live up to their standards and expectations last season. He was a 2021 All-ACC Defensive team selection.

Due to the offensive talent that has cycled through Durham, NC over the years, Goldwire has always been leaned on to be a defensive specialist and energy guy for those Duke teams. He matured physically and became more confident in what he could do offensively.

That may be why he left Duke as well. Goldwire was never a focal point in the offense, and despite his growth, he was never really an offensive threat for Duke. With the vacancy left by Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers), De’Vion Harmon (transfer to Oregon), and Brady Manek (transfer to UNC), the Sooners need offense. It’s a perfect fit for both team and player.

Goldwire will be a fit nicely next to Elijah Harkless, who was second in the Big 12 in steals last season, coming away with 1.9 per game. One thing that severely cost Goldwire minutes at Duke was his inability to knock down shots and his inconsistency finishing at the rim.

He shot 26% and 12% from three in his first two years at Duke, respectively. In the following two years, he posted 35% and 33% from three. He’s improved there, and hopefully, this spring and summer, he continued to do so as the likely report on him will be that he was not a great shooter. If he’s able to shoot about 33 to 37 percent with increased opportunities, that’ll be a big boost to an Oklahoma team that will be looking for some offense from their transfers.

He can also get Oklahoma into their offense, get in the lane, and make the right decisions by distributing the ball to others. On top of his All-ACC defensive selection, he was tops in the conference in assist to turnover ratio.

Defensively, he is what you want from a lead guard. Coach Mike Krzyzewski deployed Goldwire to pressure the ball full court almost every time he was on the floor, and Goldwire was more than up to the task. At 6 foot 3, Goldwire has the size and strength to guard positions 1-3. He switches well, communicates, and also has very quick and active hands.

Goldwire is far from a superstar, but he’s a good college player in a system that will afford him the chance to become something even more with the right situation and a significant increase in opportunities. He should be a significant part of this team whether he contributes offensively or not because he plays defense as if his life depended on it.

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Where does Joe Lunardi project OU Men’s Basketball in his preseason Bracketology?

With the start of the season tonight, where does ESPN’s Joe Lunardi have the Sooners finishing in his preseason Bracketology projections?

A new era of Oklahoma Sooners basketball begins tonight at Lloyd Noble Arena as the Oklahoma Sooners get set to take on the Northwestern State Demons.

Porter Moser takes over for Lon Kruger, who helped the Sooners reach the NCAA Tournament seven times in his 10 seasons at the helm. In 2015-2016, Kruger helped lead the Buddy Hield Oklahoma Sooners to as high as No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and a Final Four appearance.

Moser is coming off an impressive season himself, taking the Loyola (Chicago) to a regular season and tournament conference championship and an elite eight run in the NCAA Tournament.

As the Sooners get set to tip-off, all of the changes have ESPN’s Joe Lunardi skeptical that Oklahoma can return to the NCAA Tournament in the 2021-2022 season. In Lunardi’s first Bracketology of the college basketball season, he has Oklahoma on the outside looking in as one of his first four out.

Of course, these are just the initial tournament projections. The Oklahoma Sooners have a talented team to open the season with a really good coach. Navigating a deep Big 12 conference will be challenging, but Oklahoma made noise last year.

Despite the losses of Austin Reaves (NBA) and Brady Manek (transfer portal), the Sooners restocked with experienced players who should be able to step right in and help lead this team back to the NCAA Tournament. Tanner and Jacob Groves, Jordan Goldwire, Marvin Johnson, and Ethan Chargois have played a lot of minutes in NCAA basketball. Add that group to Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless, who were big-time contributors for the Sooners last season, and this team has the makeup to make some noise in the Big 12 and the nation.

It’s an exciting time for Oklahoma Sooners basketball, and it all gets started tonight at 7 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Arena.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball 2021-2022 roster

As they get set for their regular-season opener on Tuesday against NW State, take a look at the roster for the 2021-2022 Oklahoma Men’s Basketball team.

The Porter Moser era of Oklahoma basketball tips off for real this Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center as the Sooners play host to Natchitoches, Louisiana’s Northwestern State.

Moser joins an Oklahoma program fresh off an NCAA tournament appearance, taking over team that has seen a lot of turnover due to the transfer portal and Austin Reaves’ departure for the NBA.

Gone are Reaves, Brady Manek, Kur Kuath, and De’Vion Harmon. In are Jordan Goldwire from Duke, Marvin Johnson from Eastern Illinois, Ethan Chargois from SMU, and Jacob and Tanner Groves from Eastern Washington.

Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless return to provide the same energy that Oklahoma have a fantastic 2020-2021 season. With so much turnover, they’ll be counted on to lead the new-look Sooners into the 2021-2022 season.

Take a look at the full roster for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma Basketball: 5 Reasons to be excited about the Sooners

The Porter Moser era begins as the Oklahoma Sooners play their lone exhibition contest against Rogers State at 7 p.m.

The Porter Moser era gets underway tonight at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center as Oklahoma welcomes in Rogers State for the Sooners’ lone exhibition contest before officially tipping off the season Tuesday, Nov. 9 against Northwestern State.

Here’s five reasons to be excited about what the 2021-22 men’s college basketball season has in store for Oklahoma.

Handing out game balls for the Oklahoma Sooners in the 79-72 win

After the Oklahoma Sooners took care of business at Lloyd Noble Center, we hand game balls to the best performers of the day. OU won 79-72.

The No. 9 ranked Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team returned to the court on Saturday. Lon Kruger’s team won’t take the floor again until next Saturday when they travel to Morgantown to take on the No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers. Their game against Baylor was postponed due to the Bears halting basketball operations due to coronavirus protocols.

After taking time to digest the events of the early afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center, Sooners Wire hands out game balls for the best performances on the court.

Game Ball 1: Brady Manek

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Minutes Points Rebounds Assists +/-
32 9 15 4 +21

Brady Manek returned to the starting five against the Cyclones for the first time since returning from COVID-19 protocols. “Prairie Bird” has been coming off the bench for Lon Kruger since his return. Manek was huge on the floor in this game but not for his scoring. He was creating for his teammates from the post and collected a career-high 15 rebounds in the game. His teammate Austin Reaves found him on the pick and roll for a huge bucket on the alley-oop. Manek posted the best “+/-” of any Sooner on Saturday.

Game Ball 2: Austin Reaves

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Minutes Points Rebounds Assists +/-
35 16 8 8 +18

The Sooners welcomed back Austin Reaves for this game. After the team dished out a whopping three assists against Texas Tech, Reaves fixed that issue quickly. He even challenged a triple-double in the game needing just two more rebounds and two assists. His ability to facilitate throughout the game helped Oklahoma close it out against Iowa State.

Game Ball 3: Elijah Harkless

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Minutes Points Rebounds Assists +/-
32 19 6 0 -3

There was no Sooner bigger than Elijah Harkless as Oklahoma tried to close out the game. Harkless was responsible for nine of the Sooners’ final 11 points. He was a huge part of the closeout as OU won their seventh conference game of the season. Harkless set a Sooners career-high on the afternoon with those 19 points to lead all Oklahoma players.

Bonus Game Ball: Umoja Gibson

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Minutes Points Rebounds Steals +/-
38 18 5 1 +10

Typically we would hand out just three game balls after the game but Umoja Gibson was deadly from outside the arc. He would hit four of his nine shots from three-point land. Not to mention he created one breakaway bucket off a steal. When Gibson gets hot, it is best to get him the ball and let him fire away.

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Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week

Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday after his performance helped the Sooners win twice last week.

[jwplayer 05kuGGTb]

Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless is starting to quickly become a well-known figure of Sooners basketball and around the Big 12 conference.

The Cal State Northridge transfer has been superb as of late since filling in for Brady Manek in the starting lineup, and he was recognized for his play on Monday as he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

Harkless has displayed an ability to affect the game in a wide variety of ways. He is fantastic defender who can crash the boards, pile up assists and provide some scoring when he is needed to do so. Lon Kruger has to be pleased with what he has provided as he has become a real asset to the team this season.

Once Manek was forced out due to COVID-19 protocols, Harkless was inserted into the starting lineup in his place and may be there to stay given his play. With him in the lineup, Oklahoma is 3-1 and have won the turnover battle 63 to 32 while holding their opponents to just 41.1 percent shooting.

Harkless will look to continue his good play when the Sooners head to Austin to battle No. 5 Texas on Tuesday night.

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