OU vs Arkansas @ Tulsa @ 3PM Sat

[OU Guy]

This will be a good test. Arky may have 3 losses but they are pretty good.

Anyone in Tulsa area here’s a place to stop by before the game.

[OUBeliever56A]

Crimson & Cardinal: MBB - Sooners-Razorbacks in Tulsa Sat @ 3 PM

The 8-0, #19/#22 Ranked, Oklahoma Sooners have traveled to Tulsa to play Arkansas (6-3 and RV in the polls) in the Crimson and Cardinal Classic in a 3:05 PM Tipoff at the BOK Center. The non-conference contest will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing and be broadcast by ESPN2 with Mark Neely (PxP) and King McClure (analyst) on the call.

In the NET rankings, OU is ranked #15, and Arkansas is ranked #113. I wonder if OU was was the higher ranked team before in this matchup. This is the 3rd Classic, I think with the record tied at 1-1 in the first two games.

Here is the Sooner staff wrtiers article about the game today in Tulsa.
https://soonersports.com/news/2023/12/8 ... s-in-tulsa

The Sooners are having great success with their very solid 8-player rotation with the consistent starting five of McCollum, Uzan, Oweh, Moore and Godwin. Hugley IV, Soares and Darthard are the three players coming off the bench which adds depth to the Sooners on the floor it seems every game. The starters are led in scoring by McCollum and Oweh with 14.3 and 15.4 points a game respectively. Hugley leads the bench players with 11.3 points per game. The other 5 players for the Sooners are averaging between 9.4 and 6.4 points per game. Godwin is leading the Sooners in rebounding with 6.3 per game followed by Hugley IV at 5.8 and Soares, Oweh, Moore and Uzan pulling down 4.8 to 4.3 rebounds per game.

The Sooners are shooting very well this season. Overall, Oklahoma is shooting 50.9% from the field. That includes 60.6% inside the 3-point line and 34.9 outside the line. They hit 79.1% of their free throws as well. They are out rebounding their opponents by 10 also this season 40.3 to 30.8 boards a game. They are also handling the ball well as they have almost 2-1 Steals/Assists to Turnovers at 184 to 100 or 1.84.

The Sooners are scoring 85.5 PPG and allowing 62.0 PPG. The Razorbacks are scoring 82.4 PPG and allowing 76.1 PPG. Arkansas is shooting 47% from the field and 35% from Three's and 70% from the free throw line.

Arkansas is still trying to find a starting lineup I think. Even in the last three games, the Razorbacks have started 7 different players. Eight players have started at least 2 games during the year for Arkansas. It looks like they want to start 3 guards and 2 forwards as they play 9 players regularly 14 minutes a game each game. Three forwards are among the eight along with five guards. Brazille (#2 F 6'10" 240) and Davis (#4 G 6'4") have started every game. Mark (#12 G 6'6") has started 7 games with 3 other guards starting 12 and 2 other forwards starting 8 games. The two leading scorers for the Razorbacks are Mark with 17.0 points per game and Battle (#00 G 6'5") coming of the bench in all 9 games to score 16.8 points a game. Brazille is the third player that averages double digits in scoring (11.3 points and 7.8 boards).

The Razorbacks only have a 3 rebound advantage over their opponent at 38 to 35. They have 174 Steals/Assist to 108 Turnovers in 9 games.

Arkansas started out well with 3 straight wins over Alcorn, Gardner-Webb and Old Dominion at home. They then lost to UNC Greensboro in Fayetteville 72-78. (Greensboro is 6-1 and holds a 90 ranking in the NET.) In three straight road games, they defeated Stanford in 2 OTs, before losing back-to-back games to Memphis and North Carolina. Back at home, They upset Duke in front of 20,000+ fans. In their last game they defeated Furman 97-83 at home.

I think that the Sooners and the Razorbacks today will play an up-paced game and things will happen quickly. I will be surprised if Arkansas has the better athletes today, but they could be as athletic as the Sooners. But other teams this year have been good athletically against the Sooners and the Sooners handled them well. The benches will probably play a big role today because of Battle's bench scoring for Arkansas. I have a feeling that Moore and Soares are important today as well along with Godwin and Hugley IV. The defense by Moore/Soares is very key I think today. Oweh will also play a role between matchup with guards and forwards today.

OU's defense is the key to winning today, inside and outside. I do not worry about OU scoring because so many players can shoot the ball well. In an open court game, which may be how the game is played today, OU should do well with their length and ability to go to the basket.

Good luck to the Sooners today!

Boomer Sooner!

[gcruse7]

Sooners win 79-70, but that score is not representative of their game control. They had a 12 point lead at the half, and after letting the Razorbacks score the first 6 points of the 2nd half to cut their lead in 2, they quickly stretched it out and spent most of the second half with a 12 to 19 point lead. I was playing with grandkids, so I may have missed a run or two. It was only at the end with scrubs in that Arkansas cut it under their 12 point halftime lead.

This team is for real!

[EMan]

If you haven't gotten on board yet, what are you waiting for? This team is good. As much as Moser looked like an iffy hire his first two seasons, gotta give him his due. This roster is exponentially better than anything I could've imagined when last season ended. He's pulled in some really good players. As far as the game, you're right gcruse. After Ark scored the first six of the second half to cut the Sooner lead to six, it was all OU after that. The Sooners never let Ark make any kind of run. They kept the lead above double digits until less than 10 secs to go with the bench in. A really nice win. This team is fun to watch.

[MsProudSooner]

Since we are going to the SEC, this is the last time this game will be played in Tulsa. Interesting trivia: The game was played 3 times and the Pig's coach was tossed out of 2 of them.

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners are now 9-0. Let's read that again. The Oklahoma Sooners are now 9-0. Everyone that thought that should stand up and hear the applause for themselves. Oh, no one is standing! Maybe we should just say, Great Job to Porter Mosier and to this assembly of 8 players that are playing very well together and a team that is exceeding expectations! Boomer Sooner!

The Sooners walked into the BOK Center yesterday and won an, emotional at times, but interesting game between Oklahoma an Arkansas that was basically won during the second half of the 1st Half. It was those ten minutes that propelled OU to their 79-70 win over the Razorbacks. The Sooners outscored Arkansas 24-12 in those critical 10 minutes. Soares was the key ingredient in those minutes as he scored 9 points with Oweh adding 6 points for OU. After another positive 10 minutes to open the 2nd Half the Sooners held a 63-47 point lead and Arkansas was playing without their coach who had 2 Techs called on him and was now watching the game on his phone in the locker room. In this ten minute period, the Sooners were led by McCollum with 11 points and Uzan who had 7. Oklahoma held a 79-62 lead with about a minute and a half left before a bit of sloppy play and subs entered to produce the 79-70 win by the Sooners. Just like that the Sooners ae 9-0. with 4 games left before the Big 12 conference play begins.

Here is the Sooner staff writers article about the Crimson and Cardinal WIN on Saturday.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/12/9 ... s-in-tulsa

The quartet of McCollum, Oweh, Uzan and in this this game, Soares nailed down the win for the Sooners. Their total show 58 points, 16 rebounds and shooting of 15 for 30 as a group with 6 for 15 from beyond the arc. Those stats will win a lot of games for OU as the lead four players. the other four of the 8 player depth added 21 points and 14 rebounds on 10 of 19 shots and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. Less than half of the Sooners buckets came with an assist which is a bit unusual this season but in the highly athletic game, one-on-one play was a factor. The Sooners did have 15 turnovers, but that was not a factor as Arkansas also had 13.

I continue to be impressed with the depth of the Sooners. The constant it seems lately is the play of McCollum, Oweh and Uzan.The top five players for OU in "+/-" minutes yesterday were Soares with +22, Uzan and Darhard with +12, McCollum with +11 and Godwin with +20.

The defense has also been a constant for OU in 2023 so far. they have held their competition to only 44.6% from inside the arc and 25.7% from beyond the arc. The Sooners have also shot 17 more free throws so far this year. Along with that the Sooners are pulling down 9 more rebounds a game.

I wonder if the Sooners will move into the Top 15 this week after the win over Arkansas. They should definitely move up some.

The next game for the Sooners is at home on Dec 16th against Green Bay who is 4-6 and have one game to play against UI-Chicago (6-3) on Tuesday. Green Bay does not score alot of points as they have only scored 70+ points in three games this year.

Great job on Saturday by the Sooners!

Boomer Sooner!

[Brisket]

The Sooners have also shot 17 more free throws so far this year. Along with that the Sooners are pulling down 9 more rebounds a game.

This is a revealing stat that proves out the "more athletic" observations about this team. They have several players that can consistently create their own shots & get to the basket off the dribble. The past several years, they were fortunate if they had 1 guy who could do that.

[soonerindallas]

I will admit to being impressed so far - they looked good Saturday. But, it seemed they had "turned the corner" last season until we got to Big 12 play, and then they folded the tents. So, let's see how we do against KU, Texas, OSU, etc.

[OU Guy]

This guy does a good job of breaking things down. Here’s a few video clips he prepped