OU Basketball: Three Takeaways from Oklahoma's Win Over East Texas A&M

The Sooners found themselves up only two just minutes into the second half, but then quickly straightened some things out and built their first double-digit lead.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser / William Purnell-Imagn Images

It took a little while, but Oklahoma took care of business on Thursday night at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

The Sooners got a big offensive night from Jeremiah Fears, Duke Miles and Glenn Taylor, who combined to score 55 points, and improved to 4-0 on the young season with a 84-56 victory over East Texas A&M.

The Lions have spent most of the first 2 1/2 weeks of the college basketball season on the road, including double-digit losses at Iowa, at No. 13 Texas A&M and Tuesday night at No. 2 UConn.

But they started the OU game undaunted, shooting 50 percent from the floor in a competitive first half before OU pulled away.

OU returns to the court on Nov. 27 against Providence in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Here are three quick takeaways from Thursday’s game:

Finding the Gear

After an uneven first half, whatever Porter Moser said at halftime worked — eventually.

The second half began with Oklahoma clinging to a 38-33 lead. The Sooners had seven steals in the first half, but converted those to only five points. They shot 41 percent in the opening 20 minutes, but the Lions shot 50 percent.

So when OU opened the second half with Kobe Elvis’ turnover, and DeMarco Bethea immediately converted that into a bucket, and Jalon Moore got his layup blocked and Scooter Williams got fouled and made a free throw, it was 38-36 just two possessions in.

Moser didn’t panic, however.

Instead of a timeout and more on-court correction, Moser patiently exhorted his team to run the offense — and they did.

In the span of 5 minutes, Sam Godwin made a layup, Jeremiah Fears followed his missed 3 with a made 3, Kobe Elvis turned a Duke Miles offensive rebound into a layup to give OU its first double-digit lead, Glenn Taylor buried a 3, Jalon Moore took a fast-break assist into a two-handed slam, and Taylor drained another 3 to finish off an 18-2 run and build a 56-38 lead.

Taylor’s scoring outburst — he hit four 3-pointers — was a nice bonus. He’d scored 5, 6 and 8 points in his first three games. His fourth trey built OU’s lead to 72-52 with just over 4 minutest to play.

Walking Wounded

OU remained without three players who would be frontline rotational contributors if not starters.

Sharpshooting sixth-year senior Brycen Goodine, a transfer from Fairfield, has still only played in one game this season, scoring 11 points in the opener against Lindenwood. Goodine transferred from Fairfield after playing at Syracuse and Providence but Moser said is at a “stalemate” with a sore ankle.

Jadon Jones (Long Beach State) hasn’t played yet this year due to a lingering back injury, but Moser has said he remains hopeful Jones can return. 

Guard Jeff Nwonkwo (Cowley College) is out for the year with an Achilles’ tear.

As Jones and Goodine get healthy and start to stack good practice reps, the Sooners should expect a surge.

Career Nights

With Sam Godwin (19 minutes) and Jalon Moore (23 minutes) limited by foul trouble, Moser turned to a heavy rotation of guards, and the Sooners’ versatility worked great as OU pulled away in the second half.

Miles scored 14, 9 and 6 in his first three games, but broke out for an OU career-high 19 points against the Lions, which included 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

Taylor was economical with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the perimeter to go with five rebounds.

After scoring 16, 15 and 11 in his first three games in Crimson and Cream, Fears had another big night, hitting 7-of-10 field for an OU season-high 20 points to go with four rebounds and five assists.