Tag: Milos Uzan

Sooners forward Jalon Moore announces return for 2024-2025 season

Oklahoma Sooners basketball got a huge boost with Jalon Moore announcing his return for the 2024-2025 season.

It’s been another tumultuous offseason for Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball program. They’ve had to be active once again in the transfer portal and have made several significant additions to the roster. One of the lingering decisions was that of [autotag]Jalon Moore[/autotag], who announced on Wednesday evening that he’s returning to the Oklahoma Sooners for the 2024-2025 season.

Moore, who had explored going on to the NBA, was one of the bright spots for the Sooners last season. He emerged as a consistent scoring threat with his athleticism and ability to finish around the bucket. There were stretches of the season where he was the Sooners best player.

He finished third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game and led the Sooners in rebounding at 6.7 boards per game. He had 17 games in double figures, shooting an efficient 51.7% from the field and 41% from three. Moore was also third on the team in minutes at 25.6 per game.

Moore will likely have an expanded role as one of the few key rotation players returning this year.

The Sooners lost [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag], [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag], and [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag] to the transfer portal and [autotag]Le’Tre Darthard[/autotag] and [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] to graduation. Despite their additions, that’s a lot of turnover. Moore gives the Oklahoma Sooners minutes at both small and power forward spots and should see his minutes approach 30 a game in 2024-2025.

 

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Sooners guard Javian McCollum to enter the transfer portal

After leading the Oklahoma Sooners in scoring, Javian McCollum set to enter the tranfer portal. Another big portal loss for the Sooners.

The exodus continues for the Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball program. After just missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the third season in a row, [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] and the Sooners have another rebuild ahead of them.

Oklahoma had already lost [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] and [autotag]Le’Tre Darthard[/autotag] to eligibility and have now lost [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag], [autotag]John Hugley[/autotag], and [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] to the portal. Well add Javian McCollum to the list of portal entries from Oklahoma as Joe Tipton of On3 reports McCollum will depart OU after just one season.

McCollum was a big addition for the Sooners, coming over after a nice career with Sienna. McCollum led Oklahoma in scoring at 13.3 points per game and also averaged 3.4 assists per game, sharing point guard duties with Uzan.

Though his time in Norman was short-lived, McCollum made an impact. He’ll be most remembered for the shot he hit against Oklahoma State at the buzzer to help the Sooners beat the Cowboys in overtime and secure the Bedlam sweep.

With McCollum gone, the Sooners have lost nearly 50 points per game in departures this offseason.

A third straight year of roster turnover will put a bigger spotlight on Moser and his staff as they prepare for their first season in the SEC.

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Sooners sophomore point guard Milos Uzan set to enter transfer portal

Sooners sophomore Milos Uzan, who started all 32 games, is entering the portal.

Oklahoma will be in the market for a new starting guard. Sophomore Milos Uzan is expected to the transfer portal, according to a report Sunday evening from Joe Tipton of On3.

Uzan’s decision comes after the Sooners missed the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore point guard averaged nine points, 4.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game this season, while shooting 39% from the field. He started all 32 games for OU.

A former four-star prospect, Uzan joined the Sooners in 2022-2023. In that first season with the Sooners, he cracked the starting lineup and finished with 7.6 points and three assists per game. Uzan was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Expectations were high for Uzan in his second season with the Sooners. There was even some NBA draft buzz. His numbers improved this year but didn’t quite reach the lofty heights some had anticipated. His decision-making never took a step forward.

One of the biggest knocks against him this year was his three-point shooting. His efficiency from deep dropped from 40.8% in his freshman year to 29.6% this season.

Uzan joins Otega Oweh and John Hugley as key rotational players departing for the portal this offseason.

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Porter Moser speaks on turning down NIT invitation

Porter Moser talks about why the Oklahoma Sooners decided to not play in the NIT tournament.

On Sunday, the Oklahoma Sooners found out they would not be getting into the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag]. Shortly after that, it was announced they would not be playing in the [autotag]NIT[/autotag] either.

Porter Moser held a press conference on Tuesday where he talked about the devastation his team felt after being snubbed from the tournament. He also said they were given 10-15 minutes to decide if they wanted to participate in the NIT.

“It never was a thought,” Moser said. “It’s absolutely not to disparage the NIT. I think a storied tournament. That’s not to say some coaches wanted to start on the portal. That’s not where we were. It wasn’t even about those two things. I will coach until the last bounce that I can possibly coach and I told my guys that. I said I would coach; I would develop, I would compete for this school until the last bounce. So nobody can confer what it is. It was an incredible raw emotion that these kids had to make a decision in 15 minutes after heart-breaking news where some of the guys will never have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament again.”

That was particularly the case for [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag]. It was well documented how he had never made an NCAA Tournament and was using that as motivation. He was arguably playing like the Sooners’ best player at the end of the year but continued to battle an ankle injury.

Moser said he ultimately didn’t feel they’d have enough guys to field a team. Now the Sooners are back to where they were a year ago, trying to figure out how to build a team to make the NCAA Tournament while also going to a new conference.

How they respond to this will determine how good of a year they will have next season.

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Porter Moser speaks on the ‘devastation’ his team is feeling after NCAA Tournament snub

Porter Moser opens up about the Oklahoma Sooners feeling snubbed from the NCAA Tournament.

For the first time since taking over as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] held a postseason press conference. This was in light of the Sooners missing the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.

The Sooners and Moser felt they had a pretty compelling case to be in the NCAA Tournament, seeing they were 18-6 when fully healthy. But the committee thought otherwise, with Oklahoma as the first team out of the tournament.

More: Social media reacts to the Sooners NCAA Tournament snub

Moser spoke about what the last 48 hours have been like for his team.

“This is me speaking from the heart about our guys,” Moser said. “About the devastation and the hurt they are going through. Roughly a year ago today I was reminiscing with Los (Milos Uzan), Sam (Godwin) and Otega (Oweh) yesterday. A year ago today, when guys went into the portal, who were left were Yaya Keita, Luke Northweather, Sam Godwin, Otega Oweh, and Milos Uzan.  That was our roster after the portal. My incredible staff sat around and said we are going to build an NCAA Tournament team the right way with guys that represent Oklahoma.”

Moser went on to say they recruited a group of men that he would go to battle with at any time. He even admitted that every single day since Dec. 1, 2023, his young players would look at a bracket and Oklahoma would be in the field. The first time they looked up and were not included was Selection Sunday. Moser said he will not talk bad about other teams that got in and steal their joy but he will defend his team.

“I will talk about the complete hurt and how dumbfounded I am that Oklahoma was not included,” Moser said. “I have not been told a reason.”

There is no question Oklahoma surprised a ton of people by making a run at the tournament based on preseason projections. I think that is probably what hurts the most for this team, they felt they overachieved and made a run they felt was good enough.

But ultimately, they didn’t make it, which caused Moser to call the system “flawed” because of no consistency of why a team made it or didn’t make it.

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Were the Oklahoma Sooners snubbed from the NCAA Tournament?

The Oklahoma Sooners missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year but were they snubbed?

We’ve now had a couple of days to digest what went down on Selection Sunday. The Oklahoma Sooners found out they would not make the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag] and instead would be the first team left out.

They then declined to participate in the NIT tournament. But were the Sooners snubbed from being in the tournament? The short answer is, yes. The Sooners should have been over both the [autotag]Virginia Cavaliers[/autotag] and the Michigan State Spartans. Both of them got in due to their recent history in the NCAA Tournament in my opinion.

More: Social media reacts to Oklahoma Sooners NCAA Tournament Snub

Let’s look at Virginia first. Oklahoma had a higher net rating (46 to 54). They had more Quad 1 wins (4 to 2). Virginia went 21-3 in Quad 2-4 games. Oklahoma went 16-0. So, the things the committee claims to look at the most, Oklahoma was better than.

Now, let’s look at Michigan State. Michigan State did have the better net rating (24 to 46). But Oklahoma had more Quad 1 wins (4 to 3). Michigan State went 16-5 in Quad 2-4 games and as I said earlier, Oklahoma went 16-0.

If you want to argue Oklahoma played more Quad 1 games and that’s why they had more wins than both, that’s fine. But neither of the three had a good Quad 1 record.

But if you are Oklahoma and are upset by not getting in, don’t put it in the committee’s hands. Win one more game. Don’t blow a nine-point lead with 7:30 left against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Do what everyone in the conference but yourself and Oklahoma State did and beat the Kansas Jayhawks on your home court. Close out that close game against the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars. Don’t lay an egg vs. an average at best [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag] team.

The Sooners had their chances but ultimately left it up to other teams and the committee to decide their fate. When you do that, you have no one else to blame but yourself.

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‘It’s just one of the gutsiest performances that I’ve seen’: Porter Moser on his team’s performance vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats

It wasn’t pretty but given the circumstances, Porter Moser felt it was one of the gutsiest performances he’s seen.

The Oklahoma Sooners are coming off a Jekyll and Hyde type of game in their win vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Sooners start and really the entire first half was one to forget.

Then in the second half, they exploded, scoring 40 points and coming back to win a must-win game in overtime.

What made it even more impressive was the Sooners were without their leading scorer [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag]. Their other point guard, [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag], fouled out in the second half. He also had one of his worst games of the season.

Still, without a point guard to end the game on the court, the Sooners found a way.

Porter Moser spoke about just how crazy of a game it was.

“It’s just one of the gutsiest performances that I’ve seen under the circumstances,” Moser said. “You just look at the circumstances with senior night, obviously every game is huge, in nine days we played three of the most physical teams in the country, at Iowa State, Houston and Cincinnati, in nine days with these guys. Then they find out they lose Javian, then Los (Milos Uzan) fouls out. We’re playing with no point guard.”

One of the seniors who stepped up was [autotag]Maks Klanjscek[/autotag] off the bench. He hasn’t played a whole lot this season but he had a 7-2 run on his own late in the second half to tie the game.

Overall, it was a complete team effort. It took everyone to pull off a win they shouldn’t have and get them to that ever-important 20-win total.

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‘We’re in good shape’: Porter Moser on the Oklahoma Sooners’ NCAA Tournament chances

The Sooners had been struggling lately but with their win vs. Cincinnati, Porter Moser believes they belong in the tournament.

After a hard-fought game, the Oklahoma Sooners were able to win their 20th game of the season. That’s big in several different ways.

One of those is it’s the first 20-win season at Oklahoma since the 2018-2019 season when they lost in the second round of the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag]. But it’s the first 20-win regular season since [autotag]Buddy Hield[/autotag]’s Final Four team in 2015-2016. It’s also big because it almost guarantees a berth in the NCAA Tournament, which would be their first time back since the 2020-2021 season.

Porter Moser discussed whether he has talked to his players about their NCAA Tournament chances. “They know how important each game was,” Moser said. “They know where we were at. We had to get another big win against a really good team. That’s probably a Quad 2 win. We’re going to Texas now and they were talking about that more than the other. But they know. We’re just trying to stack some wins now, but I think we’re in good shape.”

It remains to be seen if Oklahoma will get an NCAA Tournament berth. The latest Bracketology had them as a 10 seed, so a loss could have been detrimental.

They have a chance to add to it as Oklahoma takes on the Texas Longhorns this weekend who could be without one of their best players. Then, in the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] Tournament, it looks like Oklahoma will face the [autotag]TCU Horned Frogs[/autotag] or Texas again as things stand right now. But that won’t be official until games are played later on in the week.

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Oklahoma Sooners outlast Cincinnati 74-71 in overtime, secure win No. 20

Oklahoma Sooners outlast Cincinnati Bearcats 74-71.

Tuesday night was a messy affair in the Lloyd Noble Center, but the Oklahoma Sooners came out on top when the dust cleared. After a rough start, they clawed their way to a hard-earned 20th win.

Oklahoma hosted Cincinnati for what will go down as Oklahoma’s final Big 12 home game. While the game ended with a 74-71 win in overtime, it was not without its own challenges.

Before the game, it was announced that starter [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag] would not be playing after injuring his shoulder during practice.

So before the game started, Oklahoma was down a starter as they got set to face a desperate Cincinnati team. The Bearcats, coached by Wes Miller, came out like the more hungry team as they played with more energy than the Sooners in the opening 20 minutes.

After falling behind 14-3 early, Oklahoma methodically worked its way back into the game. As he’s done many times this year, Rivaldo Soares paced the Sooners early with 10 points and was the only Sooner in double figures as OU put up a paltry 27 points at halftime.

The Sooners shot 40 percent from the field in the half, but the big story was the performance of sophomore Milos Uzan.

On a day when the Sooners needed him to up his contributions without McCollum in the lineup, Uzan was held scoreless in the first half. He also had two turnovers and sat a significant amount thanks to two fouls.

The Sooners entered the break down 28-27 and were fortunate to remain in the game after their poor start.

The second half was even worse offensively for the Sooners, as they shot 32% from the field. However, they shot a surprising 50% from long distance, and they cashed in on 21 of 23 free throws in the final 20 minutes.

A back-and-forth affair came down to the waning moments of the game.

While down two with 17.4 seconds remaining in regulation, Porter Moser drew up a crispy inbounds play to free Le’Tre Darthard in the corner for an open 3-pointer to give OU a one-point lead. Oklahoma fouled Darthard’s former Utah Valley teammate Aziz Bandaogo with mere seconds left, and Bandaogo hit one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Oklahoma found its defense in the extra period. Sam Godwin and Otega Oweh came through with clutch buckets, while Darthard went 3 of 4 from the free throw line to close things out. The Bearcats’ last attempt to tie the game clanged off the rim and Darthard secured teh rebound to seal the win for the Sooners on Senior Night.

Soares, Darthard, Godwin, and Maks Klanjscek were honored Tuesday night before the game.

Oklahoma found a way despite being without Javian McCollum and arguably the worst performance of his young career from Milos Uzan. Uzan shot 1 of 10 for 2 points and fouled out in the second half.

Le’Tre Darthard finished as the team leader in points with 18, while Soares and Jalon Moore dropped 16 a piece. Jizzle James, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Edgerrin James, had 16 to lead the Bearcats.

It wasn’t pretty and deserved zero style points, but Oklahoma found a way.

The Sooners were a 10 seed in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology update before the game, and this win should solidify their case as an NCAA tournament team.

If Tuesday’s win wasn’t enough, Oklahoma will have another chance to pad their resume as they travel to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. They’ll have a chance for revenge in the final regular season iteration of the Red River Rivalry in the BIg 12 before both schools depart for the SEC.

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Oklahoma Sooners preparing for the size of the Cincinnati Bearcats

The Sooners gear up for their final home game of the season against one of the biggest teams in the league.

The Oklahoma Sooners are just days removed from a hard-fought loss to the No. 1 ranked team, the Houston Cougars. Now, they finish off the regular season this week starting with a game Tuesday night vs. the [autotag]Cincinnati Bearcats[/autotag].

The Sooners defeated the Bearcats 69-65 on the road earlier in the season. That would probably be their best chance to get to 20 wins as they close the season on Saturday against a Texas Longhorns team that blew them out in Norman earlier in the year.

Porter Moser spoke about the challenges they’ll face against Cincinnati. “They are huge,” Moser said. “They can really block shots and guard. They’ve been one of the best defensive teams in the country and in our conference. They’re really physical. We just played physical guards in Houston, Iowa State, and it’s another one.”

Cincinnati’s size could play a big factor in this game. Even though Oklahoma won the first meeting, the Bearcats’ size really bothered them as they shot 41% from the field and had seven of their shots blocked. But the Sooners were able to out-rebound them, which was huge in a close back-and-forth game.

They are going to have to have that same defensive effort and effort inside if they want to come out with another win.

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