Saturday’s hoop matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Iowa State Cyclones will see the return of guard Austin Reaves. He missed the last couple of games due to contact tracing for COVID-19. During Lon Kruger’s media availability earlier this week, he confirmed the return of the senior guard.
Without him in the lineup Oklahoma defeated the then No. 9 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide but dropped a tight matchup with Texas Tech. This season Reaves is the leading scorer for the Sooners with 15.8 points per game. He also is tied for the lead in rebounds with 5.1. The most noticable issue against Texas Tech was the lack of ball movement and assists.
The Sooners managed just three assists in that game, Reaves leads the team with 72 total assists. De’Vion Harmon is the next leading assist man with 35 in 16 games. It isn’t just the scoring, rebounding, and assists numbers that was missed for OU’s basketball team. Reaves also does a lot in the transistion game.
Among players with at least 40 possessions in transistion, he has the second-highest points per possesion. He averages 1.66 points per possession in transistion, only Matt Coleman of Texas has a higher number at 1.88. Add in the fact that his 4.0 assists-to-turnover ratio is the third-highest in the conference. Reaves isn’t creating opportunities for the opposition but he is creating them for Oklahoma.
As the ballhandler in the half-court offense, the senior guard ranks top eight among the conference. His points per possession sit at 1.24, so it is just a tad off his offense generated on the fast break.
Due to the size of Reaves, he is a great option to play around the rim. He also generates 1.3 points per possession when around the basket rather than playing outside the arc. Overall, Kruger has to be excited to get back a key player for his team as the 2020-21 basketball season is nearing the end of the regular season.
[vertical-gallery id=24029]