Tag: Milos Uzan

Sooners use explosive second half run in 72-51 win over Providence

Oklahoma used a massive run in the second half to secure a comfortable 21 point win over the Providence Friars.

Oklahoma may have something special brewing on the hardwood. After Thursday’s  win over the Providence Friars, the Sooners are now 8-0 for the first time since the 2015-2016 season.

Oklahoma came out, firing on all cylinders, and jumped out to an early 12-0 lead. Their first run of the game was spearheaded by the Sooners forcing three turnovers.

After the initial onslaught, the Sooners and Friars exchanged jabs for the remainder of the first half. Oklahoma went into the intermission up by four, led by 13 first-half points from guard Javian McCollum.

McCollum was a menace as he relentlessly attacked the paint and used his mid-range game to terrorize the Providence defense to get into the teeth of the defense. He also showcased his ability to shoot from range when defenders sagged off him or went under ball screens. He finished the game with 19 points, seven boards, four assists, and three steals to complete an excellent two-way effort.

In the first six minutes after halftime. the Friars looked ready to stage an upset as they took their first lead of the game at 40-39. From then on, the Sooners hit the same switch they showed in the Iowa game.

Oklahoma went on a 15-6 run to take an 54-47 lead into the under-eight media timeout. Coming out of the media timeout, the Sooners went on an 11-0 run, putting a dagger in any chance Providence had of upsetting the 22nd-ranked Sooners (No. 19 in AP Poll).

Oklahoma suffocated Providence from beyond the arc, limiting them to just 5-23 shooting from distance. The Sooners also held All-Big East first teamer Bryce Hopkins to just 8 points, forcing him into a team-leading four turnovers.

Milos Uzan finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sam Godwin added 12 points and four rebounds, Otega Oweh finished with 13 points, and Pitt transfer John Hugley chipped in six points off the bench.

Oklahoma’s next game will be at the BOK Center in Tulsa as they take on future conference opponent Arkansas in a rematch of a game they played last year.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Razorbacks is slated for 3 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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How to watch, key players for No. 22 Oklahoma Men’s Basketball vs. Providence

The Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team is back in action and here is everything you need to know heading into the game.

The Oklahoma Sooners, led by [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag], are off to a hot start to begin the 2023-2024 campaign. They are 7-0 and are in the top 25 for the first time under Moser.

They’ve had just one win by less than double digits. That was in the championship of the Rady Children’s Invitational when they knocked off the No. 23 USC Trojans team at the buzzer. But the Sooners are back in action Tuesday night with a tough matchup against the 7-1 [autotag]Providence Friars[/autotag] in the Big East-Big 12 battle.

The Friars’ only loss is an overtime defeat to [autotag]Kansas State[/autotag] in the Baha Mar Hoops – Bahamas Championship. They are just outside the top 25. Let’s take a look at how you can watch the game and some key players for both teams to know before tip-off.

Sooners cross the century mark, blast Arkansas-Pine Bluff in McCasland Field House

Oklahoma shot 57 percent from the field and had five double digit scorers in a 21 point win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Oklahoma had a fun night Thursday evening. Porter Moser’s basketball team had a blast in front of a packed house at historic McCasland Field House. – The Sooners dominated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 107-86 in front of 3,124 Oklahoma students.

The game was a back-and-forth affair for the first seven or eight minutes until the Sooners flipped a switch and turned up the defensive pressure. That allowed OU to go on a 16-2 run right near the halfway mark in the first half. From there, the Sooners never looked back.

Oklahoma earned 27 of their 52 first-half points via the three ball, where they shot a blistering 47 percent. The Golden Lions out of the SWAC couldn’t stop the avalanche once it got going.

[autotag]Jalon Moore[/autotag] had quite the first half, leading the way with 14 points, six boards, and two of the team’s nine first-half triples. Sophomore [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag] chipped in 10 of his game-high 20 in the first. [autotag]Javion McCollum[/autotag] and Utah Valley transfer [autotag]Le’Tre Darthard[/autotag] also finished in double figures. Pittsburgh transfer big man [autotag]John Hugley[/autotag] rounded out the double-digit scorers with his double of 15 points and ten boards. Team captain and starting point guard [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] ran the show as smoothly as silk while dropping eight assists in transition and the halfcourt offense.

Oklahoma’s defense was far from elite, but the Sooners locked in enough to separate, and the offense never allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff back in the game.

The Sooners take the floor in the Lloyd Noble Center on Dec. 5 when they play host to the Providence Friars for the Big East-Big 12 Battle. The game will tip at 6 p.m. and be shown on ESPNU.

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Sooners hire former Loyola Chicago star as assistant coach

The Oklahoma Sooners have found Emmanuel Dildy’s replacement and it’s someone very familiar with Porter Moser and his scheme.

Fresh off a below .500 season, the pressure is on for [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] as he heads into year three. With that pressure also comes a last-minute shift in his coaching staff.

In July, [autotag]Emmanuel Dildy[/autotag] left Oklahoma to join the [autotag]Duke Blue Devils[/autotag]’ staff. That had become almost a trend for Moser at Oklahoma. He lost [autotag]KT Turner[/autotag] and [autotag]David Patrick[/autotag], who were both assistants on Moser’s first staff.

Reports started to surface Monday, first by [autotag]CBS Sports[/autotag]’ Jon Rothstein, the Sooners had found their newest assistant. [autotag]Clayton Cluster[/autotag] is someone very familiar to Moser. He was the starting point guard when [autotag]Loyola-Chicago Ramblers[/autotag]went to the Final Four in 2018.

He also worked on his staff at Oklahoma before returning to Loyola Chicago as an assistant there. There has been no official announcement of his hiring as of this article.

Custer should prove to be vital to the young players and point guards on the roster. There are not many people out there who know Moser’s system better than Custer after running it for three seasons.

The hope is Custer can come in and help [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] take his game to another level by being the leader and point guard for Moser’s team. With that, he will hopefully also take the Sooners to the [autotag]NCAA Tournament[/autotag] for the first time in the Moser era.

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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.

Oklahoma Sooners add Pitt transfer forward John Hugley

The Oklahoma Sooners added their second transfer portal player in as many days with the commitment of Pitt forward John Hugley.

The Oklahoma Sooners experienced big roster turnover this offseason, with a number of players hitting the transfer portal and the NBA. So it’s become imperative that Porter Moser and the Sooners hit the transfer portal to add talent.

Yesterday, They picked up commitments from Sienna transfer guard [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag]. Today, the Sooners added a much-needed inside presence in Pitt forward John Hugley.

Hugley played in just eight games in 2022-2023, averaging 8.3 points per game before opting to sit out the rest of the season to work on his mental health, according to On3. In the 2021-2022 season, Hugley averaged 14.8 and 7.9 rebounds per game, leading the Pitt Panthers.

“I chose Oklahoma because it just felt like home,” Hugley told On3 Sports. “From the time Coach Porter first picked up the phone to call me, from the time I left campus, it was just all love. Coach Porter is an unbelievable coach and he loves to win and has took his teams to the highest levels. I also think coach does an unbelievable job with featuring his big man. I really think this team can make a really deep run come tournament time.”

[autotag]John Hugley[/autotag] is a 6-9 power forward that will bring size and bulk to the Oklahoma Sooners interior. He provides a post presence that will keep teams honest as the Sooners look to spread the floor. He moves well and is a good ball-handler that can move the basketball well.

The Sooners still have work to do in the portal, but with the additions of McCollum and Hugley, they have a solid foundation with the transfer additions and [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag], [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag], and true freshmen [autotag]Jakolb Cole[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaden Cooper[/autotag].

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Sooners guard Joe Bamisile enters the transfer portal

Oklahoma Sooners guard Joe Bamisile enters the transfer portal.

The Oklahoma Sooners lost another player to the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] as [autotag]Joe Bamisile[/autotag] becomes the third player to depart the Sooners since their Big 12 tournament exit.

Joining C.J. Noland and Bijan Cortes, Bamisile will be looking for his fourth team in as many years as he looks to continue his collegiate career.

A bit of a sparkplug at the end of the season, Bamisile’s athleticism and energy stood out when the Sooners needed a boost off the bench. His minutes were inconsistent through nonconference play but began to see more playing time as Porter Moser looked for answers to give his team more of an edge.

Bamisile saw at least 10 minutes in six of the Sooners’ last seven regular season games. In those contests, he averaged 7.33 points per game. He averaged just four points per game in 2022-2023 after putting up 16.3 points per game for George Washington the year prior when he earned 31.4 minutes per game.

With three guards on their way out the door, the Sooners will lean heavily on [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] and [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag] in addition as they welcome in four-star small forwards [autotag]Kaden Cooper[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacolb Cole[/autotag] next season.

Next year will be a pivotal year for [autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] as he looks to improve upon two seasons without an NCAA tournament berth.

Sophomore guard C.J. Noland enters transfer portal

After a frustrating season, Sooners sophomore guard C.J. Noland enters the transfer portal.

Oklahoma had a frustrating season, and hard decisions will come in the offseason. The Sooners will experience that firsthand this offseason. Sophomore guard C.J. Noland was the first to enter the transfer portal Tuesday afternoon.

Noland came to Oklahoma as a heralded consensus top 100 prospect out of Waxahachie, Texas. He appeared in 33 games as a freshman and was selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. He averaged 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game.

He didn’t take much of a step forward this season, averaging 3.2 points per game. He started the first eight games but couldn’t hold on to the starting role. He averaged 14.2 minutes per game this season. He eventually lost his spot in the rotation to freshman Milos Uzan.

The focus on the development of guards Otega Oweh, Bijan Cortes, and Uzan put Noland in a bind going forward. All three were playing more meaningful minutes down the stretch to end this season.

That doesn’t consider that the Sooners will also welcome its highest-rated recruit since Trae Young in small forward Kaden Cooper. Cooper, at 6-foot-5, also figures to play on the ball and initiate the offense, thus pushing Noland down the depth chart even farther.

Noland was recruited by SMU, Texas A&M, and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State out and may look into revisiting one of those places for his next destination.

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Sooners squash the No. 22 TCU Horned Frogs 74-60 in regular season finale

Oklahoma avenges loss to No. 22 TCU as the Sooners cruise on Senior Day, 74-60.

The story of Oklahoma’s regular season is so complex. The only simple and easily understood part of the team is that they were wildly and frustratingly inconsistent. Another example is Saturday’s regular-season finale and Senior Day game against the No. 22 TCU Horned Frogs.

With their season depending solely on what they do in the Phillips 66 Big 12 tournament, Oklahoma wanted to give themselves some momentum heading into the following week. They did so in a big way and sent their seniors out in style, dismantling the same TCU team 74-60 the Sooners in February.

Before the game, the Sooners honored [autotag]Grant Sherfield[/autotag], Tanner and Jacob Groves, Jalen Hill, and Blake Seacat.

Hill has the option to return due to his COVID option.

Oklahoma was locked in from the start, going 6 of 6 from the field to jump out to a 14-2 lead before the first media timeout.

Stifling defense and white-hot shooting sent a message to TCU that this game would not be like the previous one played in Fort Worth.

Not only did Oklahoma come out hot and stay hot, the game never really got close enough for the Sooners to get worried. They answered TCU runs with their own and kept their foot on the gas until the final whistle.

By the under-eight media timeout, the Sooners’ lead had turned into a 29-12 affair.

In the first half, Grant Sherfield had eight points and Milos Uzan had seven to pace the Sooners. The Groves brothers combined for 14 points and five boards before the break.

The Sooners’ team defense was excellent. They held TCU to 37.7 percent from the field for the entire game.

Oklahoma came out from the locker room with a 38-21 lead, and despite a brief TCU surge, the Sooners maintained an 18-point lead by the under-12 timeout.

Tanner Groves continued to dominate and closed out his final home game with 23 points and 10 rebounds, including four offensive boards. Grant Sherfield, another senior, poured in 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting and was 4 of 7 from three. It was the first time all season both scored 20 in a game. Oklahoma coasted to the finish line, with the lead getting as high as 22 points. They put a bow on an up-and-down regular season with their sixth Quad 1 win.

Oklahoma will have a few days off to get mentally and physically ready, where winning four consecutive games to earn an automatic bid seems like their only shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma (15-16 overall, 5-13 Big 12) finishes their regular season in last place and will either face WVU or Oklahoma State in the 7-10 matchup to kick off the Big 12 tournament.

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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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