Tag: Jacob Groves

Notre Dame not much of a threat to Virginia in loss

Another dull loss for the Irish.

It would have been nice to see Notre Dame sweep the season series with Virginia. But unlike the first meeting a month ago, Wednesday’s game was in Charlottesville, which alone made it a tall order. Also, the Cavaliers were prepared for the Irish this time and won, 65-53.

The Irish (7-14, 2-8) never led in this game, but they never trailed the Cavaliers (16-5, 7-3) by more than 16, indicating that they could make a run anytime. But they never scored more than four unanswered points and were routinely bullied by a strong defense from the Cavaliers, who scored 20 points off 18 Irish turnovers.

The Cavaliers also made a season-high 13 3-pointers, a far cry from when they tied their season low with two in South Bend. So while the Irish hung around, few if any felt they were going to complete the season sweep. They proved their inexperience yet again in this game by looking completely outmatched. Plus, the moment was just too big for them.

Reece Beekman led the Cavaliers with 21 points. He also had six assists and four steals, showing why he’s the ACC leader in those two categories. Isaac McKneely scored nine of his 11 points on three 3-pointers to prove that he leads the conference in 3-point shooting. Off the bench, Jacob Groves got all 18 of his points on a career-high six 3s.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] paced the Irish with 17 points. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] came off the bench and scored 16 points, including four 3s.

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Oklahoma men’s basketball 2023 conference schedule released

After another poor season, the Sooners hope to bounce back with their new Big 12 schedule.

The seat for Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Porter Moser is blazing hot after missing out on the NCAA tournament in the 2022-2023 season.

To make matters worse, the Sooners have to replace their top three scorers and four of their top five scorers from a year ago. Tanner Groves, Grant Sherfield, Jacob Groves, and Jalen Hill are out the door.

Hill was a leader and the best defensive player. He’ll be hard to replace this upcoming season.

This offseason, the Sooners were again hit hard by the transfer portal, which has been a constant theme in the Porter Moser era. But they added some players through recruiting and the portal they hope can contribute right away in Javian McCollum, John Hugley IV, Kaden Cooper, and Jacolb Cole.

Those additions with the natural progressions Otega Oweh and Milos Uzan are likely to make and this Sooner team has a chance at being a tournament team come March.

Oklahoma is going to be long and athletic, but they have a hole at the power forward position they have to sort out. Athleticism isn’t something we’ve seen from a Moser team since he arrived in Norman, which adds a lot of excitement about what the Sooners will put on the court this fall.

On Thursday, the Sooners received their final conference schedule as members of the Big 12.

The Sooners will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats, Iowa State Cyclones, Texas Longhorns, Kansas Jayhawks, and Oklahoma State Cowboys at home and on the road.

They play the Baylor Bears, Kansas State Wildcats, TCU Horned Frogs and UCF Knights on the road only.

At home only, Oklahoma will play the Houston Cougars, BYU Cougars, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and West Virginia Mountaineers.

So, Sooner fans will see all of the new teams except UCF in Norman before they head off to the SEC.

Overall, this schedule is shaping up nicely. The Big 12 is obviously still the best conference in basketball but there are a lot of question marks. Texas, Texas Tech, and West Virginia are all replacing their coaches. Although Texas’ coach was named interim during the season last year.

Porter Moser has done a tremendous job filling the roster. Now it’s about getting all of the pieces to fit together for their final run in the Big 12.

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5 most important players for Oklahoma Sooners Basketball in 2023-2024

Taking a look at five players that are important to Oklahoma’s 2023 season as they attempt to bounce back from two disappointing years.

Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team needs a big-time bounce-back season. After consecutive seasons of missing the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma heads into 2023-2024 facing the possibility of three consecutive missed tournaments. That hasn’t happened since the gap in tournament appearances from 2009-2013.

Head coach Porter Moser will face his most difficult challenge yet. Not only is the pressure on for him to lead Oklahoma to the NCAA Tournament, he’ll have to do it with the Big 12, adding schools like BYU and new perennial hoops powerhouse Houston to the nation’s best basketball conference.

It won’t be easy, and the effects of the last two years of failure reverberated thru the program. The Sooners saw six players from last year’s roster hit the transfer portal and seek other college basketball opportunities elsewhere. They also lost two veteran presences, Grant Sherfield and Tanner Groves, who play for the Phoenix Suns and OKC Thunder in the NBA Summer League.

To be able to compete, Porter Moser and his staff turned to the transfer portal to replenish what they lost. Oklahoma welcomed transfers from across the country. They brought in talent from the ACC, MAAC, PAC 12, and the Western Athletic Conference.

Oklahoma will look like a brand new team next season, and based on last year’s results, it’s hard to see how that could be a bad thing. However, how will Porter Moser make it work when looking past the surface level? Who will Oklahoma depend on with Grant Sherfield, Tanner Groves, Jalen Hill, and others not on the court?

After looking at the roster and factoring in returnees, we believe these five players are the most important for the Sooners to fight back into the NCAA tournament.

5 players Porter Moser and OU hoops should consider via the transfer portal

A look at a few names the Oklahoma Sooners are targeting in the transfer portal and a couple more they should make a run at.

Oklahoma basketball is experiencing a retooling following consecutive years with no NCAA tournament berths. This year’s Sooners finished last in the Big 12 and, along with Texas Tech, were the only teams from the conference that didn’t make the tourney.

Those results have likely made Porter Moser’s seat somewhat warm, as making the NCAA Tournament is a fairly reasonable bar for most Power Five programs. Oklahoma has a reasonably strong history of basketball success as a program but has never won a national title.

No one expects Porter Moser to turn Oklahoma into the second coming of Coach K and Duke. Still, consistent tournament appearances and fighting for the Big 12 crown seem reasonable.

The blowback from two consecutive seasons of missed postseasons has been evident. [autotag]Jalen Hill[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Groves[/autotag], Benny Schröder, Joe Bamisile, Bijan Cortes, and [autotag]C.J. Noland[/autotag] are all no longer with the team after entering the transfer portal. Noland committed to Saint Louis, while Schröder landed with George Washington.

These departures also combine with Grant Sherfield’s decision to pursue NBA opportunities. At the same time, Tanner Groves has decided to move on from college basketball entirely after graduating.

As it stands, Oklahoma has lost eight players this offseason, with six of those players logging starter or significant bench minutes. Oklahoma essentially needs a brand-new team. They bring in two four-star prospects in Kaden Cooper and Jacolb Cole, but that won’t be enough especially considering they are true freshmen.

The transfer portal is the only way to rebuild this roster, and we have a few targets Oklahoma should look at.

Porter Moser, Oklahoma Sooners have to figure out shooting woes this offseason

Oklahoma shot 25% from the field in their eight-point loss to Oklahoma State. The Sooners have one job this offseason; find shooters.

When Oklahoma was at its best, it could look like one of the better teams in the Big 12 in the 2022-2023 season. Their win over then-No. 2 Alabama proved a high point of the season and put on display the potential this team had.

They had four top-25 wins, including their upset of No. 2 Alabama. Their losses to Texas came by a combined five points. They had a four-point loss at home against Kansas.

This was a team that, when they were hitting their shots, could play with the best of them. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very often. While the Sooners shot 45% from the field and 35% from three, in Big 12 play, they often struggled to keep up with their conference counterparts.

Wednesday night’s loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament was the final blow to a season that failed to meet expectations. And it was the shooting that failed Oklahoma once again.

The Sooners shot just 25% from the field and 26.1% from three. They were 6 of 23 from behind the arch. With few options inside and playing from behind for much of the night, they were forced to shoot from three often, and they just aren’t a consistent enough team from deep to rely on the three-ball.

Oklahoma’s starting five shot 24.4% from the field and were 3 of 17 from three. [autotag]Grant Sherfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Tanner Groves[/autotag] shot a combined 6 of 28 from the field and 1 for 12 from three.

The Sooners’ bench didn’t fair much better, going 3 of 11 from the field but were much better from three as [autotag]Bijan Cortes[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Groves[/autotag] were 3 of 6 from downtown.

As the offseason approaches, the Sooners will likely head back into the transfer portal to find talent that can provide a rebound season in Norman. As they look to rebuild, Porter Moser and his staff need to find shooters to restock the roster.

The effort and the energy were there. They put on solid defensive displays down the stretch. But if you can’t hit shots against good teams, you’re going to get beat. Shooting 25% isn’t going to win you many games in the Big 12, or the SEC for that matter.

Oklahoma Sooners fall to Kansas State 85-69

Despite career performances from true freshmen Milos Uzan and Otega Oweh, the Oklahoma Sooners lost 85-69 to No. 11 Kansas State.

After another top-25 win on Saturday over Iowa State, the Oklahoma Sooners were looking to pick up some momentum before heading to Kansas City for the Big 12 tournament. The Kansas State Wildcats had other ideas, defeating the Sooners 85-69 in Manhattan.

The Sooners started strong out of the gate, holding a lead for much of the first half. The Wildcats kept it close and eventually tied the game at 25 with 3:28 remaining in the first. Nae-Qwan Tomlin’s layup made it 27-25 Kansas State, and the Wildcats led for the remainder of the game.

The Sooners’ largest deficit of the game came at the 14:48 mark of the second half when Tomlin put the Wildcats up by 20. And that was pretty much all she wrote.

True freshman [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] led the way with 20 points, and fellow first-year Sooner [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag] poured in 18. Each player experienced a career-scoring game against Kansas State. The problem was they didn’t get much help.

Uzan and Oweh combined to shoot 53.5% from the field. The rest of the team combined to shoot just 33.3% from the field, including [autotag]Jacob Groves[/autotag]’ 4 for 5 performance. You remove Groves’ line and all Sooners not named Uzan, Oweh, and Jacob Groves shot just 24% from the field.

The Wildcats shot better as a team. Kansas State was 53.3% from the field and 47.4% from three. The Wildcats also held a plus-4 margin in offensive rebounds and were plus-7 in total rebounding.

The true freshmen provided some good moments in this game and optimism for the future.

Oklahoma closes the regular season at home vs. No. 22 TCU on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

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Oklahoma Sooners stifle No. 23 Iowa State in 61-50 win

The Groves Bros led the way, and the Oklahoma Sooners put together a strong defensive effort to beat No. 23 Iowa State 61-50 in Ames.

The Oklahoma Sooner picked up their second top 25 win in the last three games with an impressive defensive effort against the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones 61-50.

Oklahoma held the Cyclones to 31% from the field and 26.7% from three to improve to 14-15 and 4-12 in Big 12 play.

Early in the contest, Oklahoma trailed Iowa State 14-3 with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half. The Sooners battled throughout the rest of the first half to trail by just five after the first 20 minutes.

Over the first 5 minutes of the second half, Oklahoma outscored Iowa State 13-4 to take a 36-32 lead. The Sooners led the rest of the way, and the Cyclones never were that close again.

It was a strong performance from the Groves brothers in the win. Jacob came off the bench to lead the Sooners in scoring with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting. He was 4 of 5 from three to give the Sooners a boost. Tanner was 4 of 8 from the field and finished with nine points and 13 rebounds. In a game where Grant Sherfield was just 2 of 9 from the field and 2 of 8 from three, Oklahoma needed someone to step up, and the Groves did just that.

Sherfield did have 10 points and went 4 for 4 from the free throw line, but it was yet another inefficient performance for the Sooners guard.

Otega Oweh had an efficient performance in the starting lineup, hitting both of his field goal attempts and going 4 for 4 from the free throw line.

The Sooners NCAA tournament hopes may be relegated to winning the Big 12 tournament, but they’re certainly making a statement as the season winds down. They have a couple more games against top 25 opponents before the Big 12 tournament begins. They’ll face No. 14 Kansas State on March 1 and No. 24 TCU on March 4 to close out the regular season.

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Texas Tech pulls away late, Oklahoma Sooners drop another one 74-63

Though Oklahoma won the turnover battle, a poor shooting night allowed Texas Tech to pull away late and the Sooners lose 74-63

The Oklahoma Sooners hung in there with the surging Texas Tech Red Raiders for much of their matchup on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hang in there for a full 40 minutes, losing 74-63.

Oklahoma won the turnover battle 16-8 but couldn’t take advantage on a night when they shot just 35.6% from the field and 27.3% from three. The story of the night was just a microcosm of the season. Play close for 35 minutes and then fade down the stretch.

It was just a four-point Red Raiders lead with just over two minutes to play in the game. Oklahoma got their chances but couldn’t hit shots and couldn’t get stops on the defensive end as Tech ballooned their lead from four points to 11 for the final margin.

[autotag]Grant Sherfield[/autotag] struggled from the floor in this game, going 3 of 13 from the field and 3 of 11. As a team, Oklahoma was 9 of 33 from beyond the arch. [autotag]Tanner Groves[/autotag] (2 of 3) and [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] (2 of 4) were the only two to make 50% or more of their three-point attempts.

Groves led the team with 16 points and 6 rebounds in the loss. Four Sooners scored in double figures, but the bench only provided nine points between Sam Godwin, [autotag]C.J. Noland[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Groves[/autotag], and Joe Bamisile. The bench was a combined 3 of 14 on the evening.

With the loss, the Sooners’ slim NCAA tournament hopes are pretty much dashed. They’re now 13-15 on the season and 3-12 in the Big 12 with a rough three-game stretch to close the season against three top 25 opponents.

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Sooners can’t keep up with Cowboys in second half, lose 72-56

Oklahoma State’s lights-out shooting in the second half spoiled a strong start for the Sooners in Bedlam as they fall 72-56.

Everything looked good for the Oklahoma Sooners after the first 20 minutes of play. Oklahoma led Oklahoma State in Stillwater by six at the break. And that’s where the good times ended.

The two sides traded three-pointers to start the second half. Then the Cowboys went on a tear, outscoring the Sooners by 22 points in the second half to come up with a big 72-56 win.

Grant Sherfield, who had 15 points in the first half, was held scoreless in the second on 0 for 6 shooting. Milos Uzan, who’d been on a role of late, was held under double figures for the first time in four games. He took just two second-half attempts, going 1 of 2 after the break and finishing with just eight points. Jacob Groves was the only other Sooner in double figures with 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting.

As a team, the Sooners shot just 41.7% from the field and 26.7% from three. It was behind the arch that was the difference in the ball game. The Oklahoma State Cowboys shot 41.2% from three.

Oklahoma’s offense couldn’t keep their same level of efficiency and then had few answers at the other end of the court for a Cowboys offense that poured in 48 second-half points.

With every game a gauntlet in the Big 12, dropping one to your in-state rival that was just a tick over .500 on the season hurts your NCAA tournament resume. After their opening-season loss to Sam Houston, the Sooners had little margin for error.

The Sooners now prepare for a tough stretch of games featuring ranked opponents. They’ll host No. 21 Baylor on Saturday before traveling south to Fort Worth to take on No. 14 TCU. Then they host the No. 4 team in the nation, the Alabama Crimson Tide. A couple of wins in that stretch could right a lot of what went wrong on Wednesday evening in Stillwater, but that will be a tough task for the Oklahoma Sooners.

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Oklahoma Sooners come up short falls short in battle with Texas Longhorns

In the last game of 2022, Oklahoma lost 70-69 at home to the No. 6 Texas Longhorns.

On the last afternoon of 2022, the Oklahoma Sooners in a tightly contested game against the No. 6 ranked Texas Longhorns 70-69. It came down to the final moments, but ultimately, the Longhorns got more stops when it mattered most and iced the game on the free throw line.

Grant Sherfield led the way for the Sooners with 22 points on 9 of 19 shooting. His 16 first-half points paced the Sooners early. The Longhorns made adjustments in their off-ball help defense and did all they could to quiet Sherfield in the second half.

Oklahoma trailed much of the first half but kept the game close. A 12-1 run by Oklahoma leading into the under-four-minute TV timeout was the driving force to a 35-31 Sooners lead at halftime.

Texas guards began to assert their will in the second half. Marcus Carr had nine of his thirteen points in the second half. Texas forward Timmy Allen also scored 13 for the Longhorns. 

In the second half, with so much of the Texas defense keyed in on Sherfield, other Sooners stepped up to keep them in the game. Jacob Groves had three of his five three-pointers in the second half. He finished with 17 points. Forward Jalen Hill chipped in 14 points and six rebounds.

Texas stymied Oklahoma’s offensive fluidity by taking Sherfield out of the game and cutting off driving lanes. That proved to be the difference in the one-point loss for the Sooners.

These rivals will meet again in February. Oklahoma falls to 9-4 on the season and will look to bounce back after the start of the new year with a home game against a gritty Iowa State squad on Wednesday, January 4 at the Lloyd Noble Center.

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