OU Basketball: Oklahoma Needs to Be Sharp Again in Home Finale vs. Cincinnati

The Sooners are one win away from reaching 20 for the first time in five years, but they'll need to play clean basketball like they did in their game with Houston.

That Oklahoma scored 40 more points against the No. 1 team in college basketball than it did in its previous contest at Iowa State doesn’t sound like much of a surprise to Sooners coach Porter Moser.

“When you come off a game where you're 3-for-17 from 3, Iowa State — as a coach, all I can think about is we gotta be open and shot-ready and not hesitate,” Moser said.

OU got open, was ready to shoot and did not hesitate on Saturday night against top-ranked Houston. Three days after falling 58-45 in Ames, OU nearly pulled off a stunning upset of the Cougars in Norman.

“I thought we had great spacing,” Moser said Monday. “But we were shot-ready. We were down and ready.”

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The Sooners have lost four of their last five, but have been mostly up and down over the last two months, 7-9 in Big 12 Conference play and tied for ninth place in the league standings.

Now 19-10 overall, OU needs to win one more — either Tuesday night in the home finale against Cincinnati or Saturday at Texas — to reach the 20-win mark and, very probably, secure its place in the NCAA Tournament.

“I grew up in an era where the 20-win mark was huge,” Moser said. “You know, I remember our Creighton teams, we were the first team to win 20 games three years in a row in the history of Creighton basketball. It was such a big number.”

Now, 20 doesn’t seem like such a barrier to get through. Moser hinted that as tough as the Big 12 Conference is, it shouldn’t be a hindrance to finish the regular season at 19.

“It hasn’t been a focus until you just asked me that question,” Moser said. “It’s been, you know, trying to stack wins. Get better and stack wins. But pondering on the question and reminiscing, it’s always been something; I just don’t know if it’s been something as much this year as it was before.”

It still should be considered a big deal in Norman. The Sooners haven’t won 20 games since 2018-19, when Lon Kruger’s squad finished 20-14. Three of the five seasons since then, OU has ended the year with 19 wins.

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It’s no coincidence that the Sooners have only been to one NCAA Tournament since then, and have missed the Big Dance three years in a row and four of the last five. Twenty wins remains both a mathematical achievement for the season resume as well as a status symbol.

The Bearcats are 17-12 and 6-10, and OU owns a 69-65 road win at Fifth Third Arena back on Jan. 20. If Moser’s Sooners get open and get shot ready Tuesday like they did against Houston, that elusive 20th win should be attainable.

“I thought we executed better,” Moser said. “I thought we really executed and I thought we played with space. … I really thought Los (Uzan) and Javian (McCollum), who have the ball in their hands so much of the time, I think they (had) 12 assists, one turnover. That makes such a difference right there.

“I thought we were just tight with our game, tight with our spacing and then we were shot-ready, and that's big.”

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