In the midst of a month-long run that’s seen the Oklahoma Sooners lose nine of their last 11, they were dealt another blow. It was announced Friday that Elijah Harkless would miss the rest of the 2021-2022 basketball season with an undisclosed injury.
Harkless is one of the Sooners’ best defenders and his streaky shooting has provided lifts in games where other players weren’t finding buckets. The Sooners will miss him on the floor, but who will head coach Porter Moser turn to after losing the veteran Harkless.
On the surface, it would appear that Jacob Groves will get the first opportunity to take the minutes left by Harkless. When Moser sat Harkless down a couple of weeks ago, Jacob Groves was the immediate beneficiary, entering the starting lineup and it paid off for the Sooners.
While the experienced Groves will get more run, the expectation is that C.J. Noland and Ethan Chargois will see an uptick in minutes as well. Noland is averaging 4.3 points, shooting 57% from the field.
The Oklahoma Sooners have some work to do to get back on track as they head to Ames for a Saturday showdown with Iowa State. Their NCAA Tournament hopes hang in the balance and they need to start rattling off some wins over the final couple of weeks of Big 12 play.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.