OU Basketball: Oklahoma to Face Elite Backcourt, Size Disadvantage vs. Alabama

Led by guard Mark Sears and forward Grant Nelson, No. 5 Alabama is 11-2 with several quality wins on its resume.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

NORMAN — It’s a new year and a new era of conference play for Oklahoma, but the Sooners hope they bring their momentum from the end of 2024.

OU (13-0) is one of just three Division I college basketball teams remaining this year, along with No. 1 Tennessee and No. 6 Florida. The No. 12 Sooners will put their unbeaten campaign on the line on Saturday in their first-ever SEC conference game against No. 5 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

“It’s an opportunity when we’re playing the best of the best,” OU coach Porter Moser said. “Every night there are going to be high Quad 1 games. You have to be ready. You’re going to have to have some mental toughness and resolve to go through what you’re going to go through.”

Alabama is about as tough of an opponent that the Sooners could face for their first conference game in the SEC.

The Crimson Tide are 11-2, beating Illinois, Houston, North Carolina and McNeese State in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Their only losses came against Purdue and Oregon.

The duo of Mark Sears and Grant Nelson helped lead the Crimson Tide to their first Final Four appearance in 2024. Both of those two are back this year and have been excellent for Alabama.

Sears is widely regarded as one of college basketball’s best point guards, averaging 18 points and four assists per contest.

“He’s done it,” Moser said. “He’s older, a veteran, and they play so fast.”

Nelson is one of three 6-foot-11 players that plays a prominent role for the Crimson Tide. The forward out of North Dakota is the most productive of that trio, averaging 13.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game thus far. 

Mouhamed Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson are the other two of that group, and they’re combining for more than nine rebounds per game. Altogether, the Crimson Tide are averaging 45.1 rebounds per game.

The last time OU faced size like Alabama’s was against Michigan, which had two 7-footers in the starting lineup. The Sooners ultimately won that game 87-86, but the Wolverines outscored Oklahoma 50-28 in the paint.

“They have extreme length,” Moser said. “You have to rebound. They can get to the rim and rebound as good as anybody. Their two killers are getting to the rim and getting fouled.”

Conference play is where things went south for OU last year.

In the Sooners’ final Big 12 season, they went 8-10 in league play after finishing the non-conference portion of their schedule 13-1. OU ultimately was not selected for the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s group is confident that won’t happen again.

OU Basketball: Previewing Oklahoma's First SEC Basketball Season

“We’re able to take punches,” senior forward Jalon Moore said. “Some games, we may start off slow and we just have to come back and make a run and win the game.”

Fifth-year forward Sam Godwin added, “We’re pretty resilient. We took punches and always fought back. It’s a winning characteristic, so that’s something we take pride in.”

The Sooners were picked 15th out of 16 SEC teams in the league’s preseason poll. That’s something that motivates them as they enter the second half of their season.

“People probably thought we were going to be the free game, and we’re one of the better teams in the conference, it’s looking like,” Godwin said. “You never get a night off. You never get a chance to rest. You have to be locked in every game and ready to play.”

Saturday’s game between the Sooners and the Crimson Tide is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.