No. 12 Oklahoma will look to extend its unbeaten start to the season on Sunday afternoon when it concludes its non-conference schedule against Prairie View A&M in Norman, Okla.
Needless to say, Sooners coach Porter Moser has grown fond of his team as it has bolted to a 12-0 record.
“Our character is togetherness, toughness, spacing and playing the right way,” Moser said. “Defensively we want five guys trying to stop the ball.”
Oklahoma is off to its best start since 2015-16, when the team won its first 12 games and advanced to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners’ current surge has been led by reclassified freshman Jeremiah Fears.
Fears, who is averaging a team-best 18 points per game, could be a senior in high school had he not graduated early and enrolled at Oklahoma in July. His four-point play with 11 seconds remaining helped the Sooners record an 87-86 win over then-No. 24 Michigan on Dec. 18 at the Jumpman Invitational.
Oklahoma is coming off an 89-66 home win against Central Arkansas on Monday. In addition to Fears, the Sooners are helped by fellow guards Duke Miles (12.1 points per game) and Kobe Elvis (9.8).
“Those three guards have each had a game over 25 points this year,” Moser said. “It gives you some depth that different guys can contribute like that scoring-wise. Duke really gets it going defensively, too. His energy and aggressiveness defensively has been really good.”
The Sooners’ ability to push the pace into the open court is something Moser wants to become a team focus. He marveled at the team’s creativity, even if it’s something he didn’t possess as a player.
“We want to run,” Moser said. “We have two athletic guys leading the break. There are some things based on my playing experience and coaching experience I can teach. I really can’t teach the underhand lob from the elbow and come in there (to dunk).”
Prairie View A&M (1-11) is ranked last of 364 teams in scoring defense at an average of 94.2 points per game. The Panthers also are last in opponent field-goal percentage, as teams shoot 53 percent from the floor against them.
After they opened its season with a 111-90 home win against the College of Biblical Studies on Nov. 4, the Panthers have lost 11 straight road games.
Prairie View A&M lost 64-46 at Rice last Sunday. Nick Anderson scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Panthers, who held a 27-23 halftime lead. Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring at 18.9 points per game.
“It’s difficult, obviously, but we’re up to the task,” Prairie View A&M coach Byron Smith said. “It gives a lot of these kids a chance to see some different places. From a basketball standpoint, it does make it a bit tough.”
