How Oklahoma's Game vs. Arizona State Can Help Sooners Build Identity

The Sooners recently collected impressive wins against Wake Forest and Marquette, and they'll square off with Arizona State on Saturday.

Oklahoma guard Derrion Reid | Carson Field, Sooners On S

NORMAN — It’s not overly surprising that Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team started the season slow.

The Sooners experienced a roster overhaul during the offseason.

Star freshman guard Jeremiah Fears declared for the NBA Draft after his lone season in Norman, and the New Orleans Pelicans eventually selected him with the No. 7 pick. The Sooners also saw four players with major roles — Jalon Moore, Sam Godwin, Kobe Elvis and Brycen Goodine — graduate. Plus, four players from the 2024-25 squad transferred out of the program: Duke Miles, Luke Northweather, Jacolb Fredson-Cole and Yaya Keita.

To make up for the losses, OU went deep into the transfer portal, signing guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack and forwards Derrion Reid and Tae Davis. The Sooners also added Kai Rogers, Jake Hansen and Andreas Holst to the team from their 2026 recruiting class.

With so many newcomers, the Sooners struggled to find an identity in their first several games.

The Sooners lost neutral-site games against Gonzaga and Nebraska in their first four games to start 2-2. Their wins came against Saint Francis and Arkansas-Pine Bluff — and while OU won both of those games by more than 20 points, the Sooners were unable to pull away until late.

Oklahoma then won its next two games — against Alcorn State and Oral Roberts — to get back over .500.

And after that, the Sooners collected their first true “resume-building” wins of 2025-26.

OU won a neutral-site game against Marquette, a perennial Big East contender, on Black Friday. Less than a week later, the Sooners beat Wake Forest 86-68 on the road in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

“We still have a lot of room to improve, but I would say from the beginning couple games to now, we’ve made big improvements,” Pack said.

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In the Marquette game, Oklahoma held the Golden Eagles to a 40-percent clip from the field and scored 34 points in the paint to win 75-74. Against Wake Forest, the Sooners outscored the Demon Deacons 49-33 in the second half and won the rebounding margin 42-24 for the game.

The first eight games of OU’s season have been challenging. Half of the Sooners’ contests thus far have come against teams from power conferences.

But with a team that’s so different than it was a year ago, OU coach Porter Moser believes that’s beneficial.

“They’re embracing it, excited about the challenge,” Moser said.

OU will play two more tough games against power-conference squads before an easier three-game stretch to round out the non-conference portion of its schedule.

The Sooners battle Arizona State at Mortgage Matchup Center — home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns — on Saturday. A week later, they will square off with Oklahoma State at the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paycom Center.

After back-to-back impressive performances against quality opponents, Moser sees Saturday’s game as another opportunity for the Sooners to build their identity.

“If we continue to make improvements, I think the sky’s the limit for us,” Moser said.