Oklahoma senior forward Sam Godwin has been down the senior night road before.
Last year, while still mulling the decision to return for one more year to OU thanks to a bonus year of eligibility, the forward was honored in the Sooners’ final regular season home game. Godwin went through the ceremony and walked away with a framed jersey, as is tradition for the OU basketball seniors.
On Wednesday night when the No. 15 Missouri Tigers (21-8, 10-6) come to town, Godwin will once again be recognized and come away with a second framed jersey.
“Last year my jersey had the Big 12 patch on it,” Godwin said Tuesday afternoon. “This time I’ll get a jersey framed with the SEC patch on it, so that’ll be a cool item for me to have.”
Godwin comes into his second senior night performance playing some of his best basketball in an OU uniform. In his last three games, the senior forward has shot 15 of 16 from the field and has made his last 14 shot attempts. Over that three-game stretch, Godwin is averaging 12 points and 6.3 rebounds.
“It’s been good to get back into a rhythm,” Godwin said. “At this time of year, everyone wants to be playing their best basketball. So I’m glad that I’ve been able to get into this groove recently.”
Godwin is not the lone senior being recognized Wednesday night. Also being recognized is Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles, Kobe Elvis, Glenn Taylor Jr, Yaya Keita, Jake Moser, and, of course, Jalon Moore.
Moore, who could have entered his name into the NBA Draft at the conclusion of last year, decided to come back to Oklahoma for one final go around with the Sooners. In his final season with the Sooners, Moore has averaged a career-best 16.6 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting as well as 5.7 rebounds.
“It will be a little emotional for sure,” Moore said Tuesday afternoon. “But it’ll be great to get the chance to play one final time in front of the fans and leave it all out there.”
“Jalon is one of those guys who is the epitome of why people get into coaching,” head coach Porter Moser said Tuesday. “To see the growth that he has had since he came here two years ago from Georgia Tech to where he is now is just incredible. It’s been a joy to watch.”
It’s without question that Moore has been the leader of this Oklahoma team through this season. And while Wednesday will be another opportunity for Moore to get praise for his role with the Sooners this year and last year, there is still an important task at hand for the Sooners: collecting victories.
“While the ceremony will be fun and emotional, myself and the other guys can’t get caught up in it,” Moore said. “We know we still have games to play and games that we need to win. And we want to come away with a victory tomorrow night.”
Moore is correct. The Sooners do need wins, and the opportunities are getting fewer and fewer. Only two games remain in the regular season for Oklahoma, Wednesday night against Missouri and then Saturday night against the Texas Longhorns.
With a current SEC record of 4-12, the Sooners are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, with the most recent projections from ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi featuring the Sooners as the first team out of the tournament. The time for the Sooners to move is now.
“We’ve been saying it for the past month, but we still have a path to get in,” Moser said. “There is a great deal of urgency along that path, but the path is still there.”
Despite their poor record in SEC play, the Sooners still haven’t been entirely eliminated from NCAA Tournament contention, largely in part due to the other teams hovering around the bubble struggling. And in an SEC season full of gut-wrenching losses and bad breaks for the Sooners, perhaps their best break might come at the very end of the season, thanks to a weak bubble.
However, the Sooners’ path can’t rely on other teams helping them out. The Sooners must help themselves first. And the best way for Oklahoma to help itself is to win. Plain and simple.
Two opportunities remain for the Sooners to pick up victories, both of which hold Quad 1 designations. However, Oklahoma will have to overcome previous failures this season as each remaining game comes against teams that have already beaten the Sooners.
The previous meeting this season between the Sooners and the Tigers was not great. Missouri outclassed the Sooners in every facet of the game and dominated Oklahoma 82-58 back on Feb. 12. Moser believes this time around will be different for Oklahoma.
“We did not play a good game, across the board the first time around,” Moser said. “But I have faith in the guys to generate a different outcome this time. There isn’t a single game this year where I didn’t think we had a chance to win, and Wednesday will be no different.”
That belief will have to come through not only from the coaching staff, but from the players, too, on Wednesday. For the Sooners, a night that will begin in celebration can’t afford to end in yet another heartbreak. Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament life depends on it.
The Sooners and the Tigers will meet up again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 5 inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.
