Three Takeaways From Oklahoma's 93-60 Win Over Lindenwood

The Sooners defeated visiting Lindenwood by 33 points in their home-opener Monday night.

Mar 2, 2024; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Jalon Moore (14) drives around Houston Cougars guard Mylik Wilson (8) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Oklahoma opened its inaugural SEC season with a 93-60 win over Lindenwood on Monday night in the Lloyd Noble Center.

Jalon Moore led all scorers with 22 points while four others, Sam Godwin, Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles and Jeremiah Fears finished in double-figures. Godwin led all rebounders with 15 pulldowns. Three Sooners finished with six assists.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

No Tears For Fears

The 17-year old freshman point guard from AZ Compass looked little the rookie in his 25 minutes, scoring 14 points in his Sooners debut. He made great reads in transition while pushing the Sooners’ offensive tempo.

"The thing about when you crash as many guys as [Lindenwood did — they were really just crashing the glass — you can get out and run," Sooners head coach Porter Moser said. "He gets the transition going so fast."

Fears played (mostly) within himself and avoided many of the typical debut mistakes while creating a team-high 16 points on five assists, handled the rock really well and didn’t get jammed much. Most importantly — only two turnovers.

Asked in the post-game press conference when he had last coached a freshman as game-ready as Fears, Moser replied, "I'm trying to think, when was the last time I had a high school true senior do this? "

"'Cause he reclassed up. He's really a true high school senior," Moser said. "So the answer is no. I don't want to have a pun here, but he really didn't have much fear coming in here."

Thoughts on the zone press

Moser elected for a full-court trap after made baskets. It didn’t accomplish much. The Sooners seldom produced turnovers from it and it did little to slow Lindenwood’s pace. If anything, the Sooners’ attempts to retreat into a half-court man only gave Lindenwood more open looks. A better, faster team could have exploited the press time and again.

If this is a scheme Moser wants to enact in conference play, they have to be more disciplined, quicker and less reluctant to help on the back end.

"We've got a lot to build on. We've got to guard the ball better," Moser said. "That's my biggest takeaway from our defense is we've got to guard that ball.."

Ball movement

OU committed a few ill-advised turnovers in transition early. But once they found their footing, their offensive continuity was excellent.

"I thought we took care of it. We have eights at the half. We had 12 for the game," Moser said. "And, you know, 23 assists, 12 turnovers. We did some good things to build on, and we've got to get better in some areas."

The Sooners backcourt swung the ball particularly well, creating shots from wing to opposite corner or vice versa and demonstrating brisk pace. Sam Godwin’s passing from the post was as valuable. In addition to Fears’ six assists, Miles and Kobe Elvis shared the team-high six assists as the Sooners outscored the Lions 29-6 in transition. Elvis finished plus-34 in 23 minutes.