Early season tournaments tend to help basketball teams come together, and players begin to bond.
The Sooners are travelling to South Carolina this weekend for the Myrtle Beach Invitational, along with eight other teams who were invited to participate at the event. After defeating UTSA 96-44 on Nov. 12, Oklahoma begins the tournament tipping off against East Carolina.
Chemistry is a necessity for success and tournaments like these can act as team builders, especially for a squad with five new transfers and four freshmen on its roster.
“It’s definitely something that brings teams together,” Porter Moser said on Wednesday ahead of his third game as the Sooners' coach. “Eating out, eating in the hotel, walking through. We’re definitely excited about this trip.
“We just want to keep having that mantra of getting better game by game.”
The Sooners' biggest strength so far this season has been their defensive effectiveness. They'll get their toughest test yet this weekend when they go up against the Pirates’ Tristen Newton.
The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard is averaging 19.7 points, five rebounds, nearly five assists and a steal per game early this season. The El Paso, Texas native is also shooting 43.8 percent from 3 to start the year. He’s coming off a performance vs. Western Carolina on Nov. 14 where he dropped a career-high 30 points and finished with five 3s, six rebounds and six assists.
“He’s really got his confidence going, he can really shoot it from deep.” Moser said. “He’s definitely a key player, but for him he’s just so long and he’s got confidence in his shot. We’ve got to really be where he is on the floor at all times.”
OU is coming off a dominant defensive performance, as it allowed only 44 points — its fewest since 2015 — on 22.7 percent shooting against the Roadrunners in its second game of the season.
The Sooners will look to build on that vs. the Pirates at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 12 in Conway, South Carolina on ESPNU.
