Oklahoma Looks to Stay Unbeaten vs. Michigan at Jumpman Invitational

The Sooners were 10-0 last year, too, and their first loss came at the Nike-branded event in Charlotte.

BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — A good start for Oklahoma’s basketball team can get even better on Wednesday.

The No. 14-ranked Sooners battle No. 24 Michigan at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte. OU is one of just five remaining undefeated teams in Division I college basketball after its 80-65 win against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Here’s what you need to know about the neutral-site matchup:

Sooners are hot

A grand total of 364 teams play NCAA Division I college basketball. The Sooners are one of the only undefeateds left, along with No. 1 Tennessee, No. 7 Florida, Drake and Utah State.

An undefeated start is always impressive, but the Sooners’ resume makes theirs particularly notable.

Oklahoma has taken down five opponents — Providence, Arizona, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State — from power conferences. The Sooners won the latter two of those games by double digits.

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Jalon Moore, a forward who started his career at Georgia Tech, is the team’s leader in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game. Freshman Jeremiah Fears has also been a standout for the Sooners, averaging 16.7 points and 4.7 assists per contest.

Coach Porter Moser’s ability to acquire talent from the transfer portal has also been on display in the early going, as all five of OU’s leading scorers are in their first or second year with the program after beginning their careers elsewhere.

Even though there aren’t many undefeateds left in college hoops, the Sooners haven’t gotten much love from various rankings and metrics.

Oklahoma is No. 14 in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, actually down one spot from last week despite beating Oklahoma State by double digits at a neutral site, thanks to an apparent voter error (one voter apparently cast his vote for OSU instead of OU). The Sooners also haven’t cracked the top 30 in the NET or KenPom Rankings.

Improved Michigan squad

The Wolverines were one of college basketball’s hottest teams before stumbling last week.

Michigan took a seven-game winning streak into last week before losing to Arkansas at a neutral site (Madison Square Garden). In that streak, the Wolverines took down quality opponents like TCU, Virginia Tech, No. 22 Xavier, No. 11 Iowa and Wisconsin.

Even with two losses — the one to Arkansas and their early season setback to Wake Forest — the Wolverines are a ranked squad.

Michigan's scoring offense has been well-distributed, as five different players on the roster are averaging more than nine points per game. Vladislav Goldin, a Florida Atlantic transfer originally from Russia, leads Michigan with 12.5 points per game.

Perhaps Michigan’s toughest player to neutralize is Danny Wolf.

A 7-foot transfer from Yale, Wolf is averaging 12.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per contest. His rebounding number is tied for 14th-best in the nation, and he has logged double-digit boards in five games this year.

Michigan is playing its first season under coach Dusty May after the Wolverines fired coach Juwan Howard following an 8-24 campaign in 2023-24.

Conclusion

The Sooners’ start has been impressive. But there’s a long way to go until March.

OU started 10-0 last year, too, and the Sooners stumbled to an 8-10 conference record and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.

Their first loss last year? Against North Carolina at the Jumpman Invitational.

That’s not to say that this is a make-or-break game — it is only December. But a win against a surging Michigan could go a long way for the Sooners as they look to prove their legitimacy.