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With Oklahoma's Soares, Hugely Out vs. TCU, Porter Moser Details Plan for Big 12 Tourney

The Sooners will be missing two key players against the Horned Frogs, but Moser explained how "close" they are to returning, possibly even later this week.

John E. Hoover

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Oklahoma goes into the Big 12 Tournament shorthanded.

The Sooners face TCU on Wednesday night in their first-round game at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City missing swingman Rivaldo Soares and postman John Hugley.

OU coach Porter Moser said Tuesday on a Zoom call that both players will be out Wednesday, but reiterated that they are both “close” to playing this week should the Sooners advance, although the real hope is they’ll be back next week for the NCAA Tournament.

“I’ll be able to know more tomorrow night,” he said. “You know, it's one of those things, day-by-day, with both of them. We just felt that, you know, after practice today, there wasn't going to be a chance for them to go tomorrow. So We'll reevaluate after the game tomorrow. We'll see how they (respond) tomorrow night, how they feel. And then we will be able to answer that question a little bit more after that. But I don't look at them both long-term. That's what I'm saying. I think we're close to being day-by-day. It's just not going to be tomorrow.”

OU is 20-11 overall and 8-10 in Big 12 play, while TCU is 20-11 and 9-9. The Horned Frogs beat the Sooners 80-71 in their only meeting this season, but that ewas back on Jan. 10, the second conference game of the season.

“They’re as good a transition team (as there is) in the country,” Moser said. “ … We really got to get back and set that transition defense against TCU.”

Moser described his team’s “resiliency” over the past few weeks through this recent run of injuries. Soares, who had emerged as the Sooners’ energy leader on the floor, was able to return, but then OU unexpectedly lost leading scorer Javian McCollum for the Houston game.

“We stayed healthy almost the whole year. And all of a sudden, seven games ago, it’s been a number of them,” he said. “So we gotta fight through it. I really believe that everyone's going to be back and healthy within a week for the NCAA Tournament, so that's the good news. Right now we're banged up for the Big 12 Tournament.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.