OU Basketball: Oklahoma’s Joe Bamisile Sparks Steady Performance Against UNC-Wilmington
NORMAN — Joe Bamisile breathed life into Oklahoma’s offense on Tuesday night.
The George Washington transfer hit his first four shots, pouring in 12 first half to help power the Sooners past the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks 74-53 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Through two games, the OU (2-1) offense averaged just 58.5 points per game.
On Tuesday night, the Sooners surpassed 58 points with nine minutes left in the game to coast across the finish line.
Before Bamisile got himself going, OU forced the Seahawks to call an early timeout.
Grant Sherfield, Jacob Groves and C.J. Noland combined to shoot 4-of-4 from deep to jump out to an early 12-2 lead.
“I thought the first group right out of the gate… they established the ball movement with the spacing,” OU coach Porter Moser said after the game. “… It was good to see us get that confidence. I just have seen it from the incredible tightness that we had in the opening game in the last six minutes to some of the tightness we even had against (Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Friday).
“I really thought that was a turning point that we won that game. You could just see it was almost a relief.”
From there, Bamisile took over.
Bamisile played a season-high 15 minutes, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, two rebounds and one assist.
“That's why Joe's here,” Moser said. “He can really score. Sometimes scores want to score so much that he's got to come in and start letting it come to him. I thought the guys got him some good shots.”
The hot shooting start was a relief to Bamisile, who hasn’t changed anything in practice as he’s been waiting to see those shots fall.
“I just made shots I take every day,” he said after the win. “But like I said I’m thankful to God that they went in so I don’t look as crazy when I shoot them now.”
The 6-foot-5 guard’s ability to get to the rim helped space OU’s offense which looked stagnate over the Sooners’ first two games fo the season.
Oklahoma rode the spark from Bamisile to a 37-21 halftime advantage and never looked back.
Excellent passing from fellow guards Sherfield and Milos Uzan kept the offense flowing throughout the game.
Sherfield led the team with six assists, and Uzan added another five to help push the team to 19 total assists on Tuesday night.
After turning the ball over 34 times combined in the first two games, Moser thought the passing settled in just like the shooting, as the Sooners made simple plays to help spring teammates open.
“I thought those guys, coming out of that timeout against Pine Bluff with a minute left and executing that little action, the confidence is growing,” Moser said. “We’ve just got to be obsessed with getting better. The guys felt great the past couple of days.
“I told them put that in the bank and get greedy. Get greedy for this feeling again. I thought these guys came out with a great mindset right from the jump to guard and to move and share.”
Playing in rhythm, Oklahoma’s bench also had its best performance of the year.
Moser got 30 points from his reserves, and the team shot 53 percent from the field overall which were both season highs.
“I just think this time of year right now, we haven’t been shooting well,” Moser said. “That’s what the doctor ordered. We needed to see it go in a handful of times.”
Sherfield scored 15 points alongside Bamisile, and sophomore guard C.J. Noland also scored in double figures, adding 11 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Noland’s night was the first time this season the young guard saw the fruits of his offseason work pay off as he was able to both hit shots from deep and beat defenders off the dribble to attack the basket.
“Coach Moser was right that I did need to learn on the next level to put it on the floor better and you know finishing at the rim,” Noland said. “So I mean I paid attention to that over the summer and I really tried to work on that over the fall and summer. So it pays off.”
OU’s defense held strong as well, holding the Seahawks to 35 percent shooting from the field.
The second half lead, which ballooned to 24 at one point, allowed Moser to dip deep into his bench.
Freshman Benny Schroder and transfer forward Yaya Keita both made their OU debuts late in the game after a tight couple of games to open the season.
Moser’s Sooners return to action on Friday night when Oklahoma will host South Alabama at 7 p.m. the Lloyd Noble Center, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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