OU Basketball: Ranked Again, Oklahoma Excited for Return to McCasland Field House

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s triumphant return from Feast Week will look a little different.

Porter Moser’s Sooners, who entered the AP Top 25 for the first time in his tenure after victories over Iowa and then-No. 24 USC, get back to action on Thursday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a contest that will be held at McCasland Field House.

The battle between OU (6-0) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-4) will be the first regular season contest held at the Field House since OU hosted Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 31, 2012.

Oklahoma’s students will pack the stands, as Moser hopes it will be an opportunity for the student body to continue to connect with the team.

“I love history, paving the way for the future,” Moser said on Wednesday. “I came (to McCasland Field House) for a volleyball game my first year here. And to see Alvan Adams, Gar Heard, legends who played here. I just started visualizing like, what would it look like with this vertical arena?

“I’ve been everywhere trying to get the students to have such an impact, so I just thought it'd be cool for the students to see how loud it can get right on top of the floor. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere.”

Back In McCasland: Lon Kruger, Alvan Adams Look Back on Oklahoma‘s Storied History In Field House

Not only will the students be right on top of the court, the sidelines will be much tighter than a typical home game at the Lloyd Noble Center.

“I would probably say two things are gonna happen with the lines,” Moser said. “One, there might be an out of bounds where you don’t realize what line it is. And then two things is I’m gonna back to my playing days.

“I hope I don’t do this, but I might end up taking a charge from one of the officials because there is no room to run on the sideline with the coaches. So I’ve got to be ready for that on the sideline.”

Coming off the successful trip to San Diego, Oklahoma’s players are excited about getting back in front of the home fans.

But the team isn’t playing with any more confidence than before.

Instead, Moser’s players are just excited everyone on the outside of the program got to see all the work they put in throughout the entire offseason.

“This was expected. We knew what we had in this locker room,” guard Le’Tre Darthard said on Wednesday. “We’re not too high, not too low.”

Oklahoma enters the contest ranked 11th in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to 59.8 points per game, but OU will face a different test in Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The Golden Lions average 87.4 points per game, and will look to attack relentlessly.

“This is one of the fastest-paced teams in the country,” Moser said. “But they’re an elite shooting team. They have somewhere around 88 made threes already. We’re in the 40s to give you some perspective of how many threes that is this early. Averaging more than 11 made threes already.

“We really have to defend the 3-point line. I’ve watched them and how quickly they can play and shoot. And then they rebound it and kick it out and shoot more threes. Defending the 3-point line is going to be an absolute must against Pine Bluff.’

Tip-off between Oklahoma and Arkansas-Pine Bluff is slated for 7 p.m., and the battle from McCasland Field House will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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