Lon Kruger says “at this point” Austin Reaves is expected to be back for Saturday’s game against Iowa State

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said “at this point” that they expect Austin Reaves to make his return for Saturday’s game against Iowa State.

A big piece of Oklahoma’s team looks to be on the way back.

Lon Kruger met with the media on Thursday and confirmed the belief that Austin Reaves is expected to make his return to the team for Saturday’s game against Iowa State as long as all goes well with testing over the next couple of days.

Reaves has been out due to contact tracing in the COVID-19 protocols and has missed the last two Sooners games against Alabama and Texas Tech. Getting him back will obviously be huge as both the leading scorer on the team but also as one of the leaders.

“We missed him a lot,” Umoja Gibson said on Thursday. “We can’t wait to get him back this Saturday.”

Kruger also said that Alondes Williams would be out again on Saturday as he still recovers from his positive COVID-19 test. If all goes well with him, he could be available for next Wednesday’s game against Baylor, although he will likely be eased back into things.

Since Reaves has been a case of contact tracing rather than testing positive himself, he has been able to do some work on his own and thus won’t need his return to come slowly. He should be able to go right back to his normal minutes according to Kruger.

Oklahoma hosts Iowa State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT at the Lloyd Noble Center.

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Texas Longhorns Basketball: Iowa State rescheduled date announced

UT’s matchup against Iowa State has been rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 18. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m. CST and aired on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Texas is in the middle of a mid-season break due to COVID-19 complications within other programs. The Longhorns were supposed to travel to Ames on Wednesday to face Iowa State prior to a road trip to TCU on Saturday.

In order to get all 18 conference games in, Texas’ matchup against Iowa State has been rescheduled to Thursday, Feb. 18. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m. CST and be aired on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

The Cyclones have not restarted team activities after shutting them down on Jan. 15. Matchups against Texas, Kansas, and Texas Tech have all been impacted.

It will now cause Texas to play four games in seven days with the middle two being on the road. On the Tuesday (2/16) before Iowa State, Shaka Smart’s team will be heading across the Red River to face Oklahoma. The home game against TCU will take place on Feb. 13 and the long week will conclude by hosting West Virginia on Feb. 20.

Texas’ road game against TCU has yet to be rescheduled. It will likely be placed on the final week of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 24 or Thursday, Feb. 25.

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