OU Basketball: Oklahoma Demolishes No. 2 Alabama in SEC/Big 12 Challenge
NORMAN — Entering the weekend, Oklahoma basketball was in danger of becoming a rudderless ship through the final two months of the season.
Losers of three straight, including double-digit losses to Oklahoma State and No. 11 TCU, Porter Moser’s Sooners drew the tall task of hosting the No. 2-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Even on his most optimistic day, it’s unlikely Moser could have predicted how his team would respond.
Led by an explosive shooting performance from Grant Sherfield, OU dominated the Crimson Tide 93-69 at the Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.
The victory was Oklahoma’s first win over a team ranked in the AP Top 2 since the Sooners downed No. 1 Kansas 64-55 on March 10, 2002 in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game.
It was also OU’s largest victory ever over a top five team, and there were no amount of security guards on hand who were going to keep the students off the court after the final buzzer sounded.
“When the crowd rushed the floor — my younger self might have ran out in the middle of it,” Moser said after the game. “And I just sat there and said, ‘This was the vision.’ This kind of excitement with the student body. … Best crowd I’ve had since I’ve been here.
“… That’s the long term vision I have is to create an every-night atmosphere here. An every-night atmosphere here. For (the students) to come back, I just want them to know how much I appreciate it. All the students, everyone I saw. That’s the vision.”
The players took a very different approach to Moser, as they were in the thick of the crowd to celebrate with the student body.
“I don’t remember the last time that’s ever happened here,” senior forward Jalen Hill said. “Since I’ve been here, it’s never happened. So just seeing that, the fans were great. That’s the best I’ve seen the fans ever since I’ve been here.”
Oklahoma (12-9 overall, 2-6 Big 12) needed the reprieve from conference play, but hosting an Alabama team led by Brandon Miller, a potential top-five pick in the NBA Draft this summer, was likely not the change of pace many in Norman would have dialed up.
Four of OU’s six conference losses have come by a combined 10 points as Moser’s team has struggled to close out games.
The solution on Saturday against Alabama (18-3)? Build a big lead early and never relent.
Sherfield paced all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting, while Hill and Tanner Groves set the tone on the other end.
Hill drew the Miller assignment, helping hold the Alabama star to 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting while adding 26 points himself on the other end.
“Jalen had 26,” said Moser, “but I think the first thing we should talk about is that kid needs to be on the watch list for the National Defensive Player of the Year. If he is not on the the watch list … people aren’t watching. This kid’s unbelievable defensively.
“… I mean he’s guarding lottery picks. And he is resilient. He’s playing a lot of minutes. And then for him to have that defensive effort and to have 26 points as well, I mean what a performance by Jalen.”
Groves also stood tall anchoring the defense, pulling down 12 rebounds and blocking three shots while finishing with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
“I thought the first couple of plays he got too high (in the paint), and they got behind him for a couple of dunks,” Moser said of Groves’ defensive effort. “Then he adjusted, and I thought he was terrific. He just played an all-around game.
“He was really verbal. I really saw some things defensively in the second half. Defensively, he did some really good things. Offensively, he had a great pace to him. But the thing I like is that every huddle, everything, he was in there. I thought he had great leadership.”
As a team, Oklahoma shot 57.6 percent from the floor, connecting on 9-of-13 shots from 3-point range.
Ten games remain in Moser’s second regular season at the helm in Norman.
His Sooners have plenty of work ahead of them to make the NCAA Tournament field come March, but the team hopes not only the performance but the atmosphere that accompanied it will spark the program over the next two months.
“I think it could definitely be a turning point in our season,” Groves said. “That win gave us a lot of confidence, and I mean, I think it’s just going to propel us forward in the season. That game’s going to take us all the way to March.”
Oklahoma will have a chance to not only carry momentum forward but exact a small measure of revenge this Wednesday.
Up next, the Sooners will host Oklahoma State, who took the season’s first Bedlam battle 72-56 on Jan. 18.
Tip-off between the Sooners and the Cowboys is scheduled for 8 p.m.
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