Oklahoma dominated Division II Rogers State 106-57 in its season-opening exhibition matchup on Monday.
The win marks the first time the Sooners have scored 100 points since Dec. 3, 2020, against UTSA. The game also takes place exactly one year after the passing of former OU head coach Billy Tubbs, who was honored pregame with a moment of silence.
Here’s five final takeaways from the Sooners’ victory:
Sooners' rotations
The Sooners gave the first glimpse as to what their rotation will look like this season.
Redshirt senior Jordan Goldwire and seniors Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless started at guard, with junior Jalen Hill and senior Tanner Groves starting at forward. Junior forward Jacob Groves, redshirt senior forward Ethan Chargois and freshman guards Alston Mason and C.J. Noland came off the bench in the first half.
Though Groves played a relatively small role in the exhibition, only scoring two points on 1-3 shooting, OU head coach Porter Moser expects him to have a bigger role going forward.
“Tanner Groves has been scoring a lot inside and outside in practice. He's been a leading scorer in practice,” Moser said. “We were just on such a roll on the perimeter, he didn't get as many touches tonight.”
In the second half, freshman guard Bijan Cortes and redshirt sophomore forward Rick Issanza came off the bench with a commanding lead, followed by junior forward Akol Mawein. Late in the second half, walk-ons Blake Seacat and Jake Moser both saw action.
Transfer senior Marvin Johnson, who sat out due to personal reasons, was the only player to not suit up for the Sooners.
Strong shooting
Oklahoma came out shooting.
OU finished 18-of-26 from 3-point range and Jacob Groves and Gibson combined to shoot 10-for-10 from 3. Groves didn’t miss a shot all night, finishing 7-of-7 with 20 points. Gibson finished the night 7-of-8 with 19 points.
“I didn't think we took very many bad 3s,” Moser said. “Even the ones we missed. (I was) clapping on a bunch of misses.”
The Sooners finished shooting 69.6 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from 3.
The ball movement and spacing were notable throughout the half, as several skip-passes and passes out of double teams led to open shots. Throughout the game, OU racked up 25 assists on 39 made shots.
“Offense is spacing and spacing is offense,” Moser said. “And that's been one of the biggest things is teaching them how to play with space. If a play breaks down, we continue to play random offense with space. I was really pleased with the guys' assists, passing, skipping, moving, staying in space, one mores. I thought the ball was poppin’.”
Transfers' impact
Aside from Jacob Groves’ excellent shooting performance, several other OU transfers made an impact early and often.
Goldwire finished with five points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Multiple assists came on no-look passes that led to open 3s. Chargois finished with six points, six rebounds, six assists, five assists and a block in 11 minutes.
“I think our chemistry is light years ahead of what it could have been,” senior guard Elijah Harkless said. “I think we all learned how to play with each other in such a short time really from the summer because they all got recruited late ...
“It was pretty cool. We definitely learned each other's tendencies pretty quickly.”
Team defense
Moser’s teams at Loyola Chicago were known for their defense. Last season, the Ramblers led the country in team defense, allowing only 56.1 points per game.
Moser’s emphasis on defense has carried over and he provided it as an example of both where his team played well and where OU could improve, even though it only allowed 57 points.
“Rogers State did a really nice job of moving the ball,” Moser said. ”I thought they played with a great pace. And I thought we got fatigued a little bit the second 10 minutes of the first half. We talked about it at halftime and I thought we played for longer periods of time with that intensity and it's a great lesson. To play as hard as we want defensively, it has to be for 40 minutes. We have to practice really hard, but I was pleased in a lot of things defensively.
“I like their attitudes and effort defensively. That's a huge start, their willingness to play that hard and we're going to keep coaching the technical part.”
Opening night environment
Harkless noticed a shift in the environment of the Lloyd Noble Center compared to last year’s COVID-restricted environment.
“I've never seen (the stadium) like that,” Harkless said, referencing the chairs surrounding the court and the student section on the floor. “All the people, it was amazing. They came out and supported us.”
Additionally, Moser felt that the freshman trio of Alston Mason, C.J. Noland and Bjian Cortes handled the bigger stage well.
“Sometimes the (freshmen) come out really … starry-eyed the first time that the fans are in the stands and I didn't think they really felt that way.” Moser said. “I thought the freshmen came in ready to play and not afraid.”
Oklahoma begins its regular season against Northwestern State at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9 in Norman.
