Note: Tonight's game starts at 6pm CST, rather than the usual 7 or 7:30 pm, and is on ESPN 2.
Tonight, the Sooners roll into town with a #24 ranking, a 9-4 record, and a hot streak including a victory over Kansas. This is a good team. Beware of Manek, a blond, floppy-haired forward who does it all for the Sooners. Point guard Austin Reaves leads the scoring with 15.2 ppg, followed by De'Vion Harmon at 12.8 ppg.
Austin Reaves - G 15.2 ppg 5.1 rpg
De'Vion Harmon - G 12.8 ppg
Brady Manek - F 11.8 ppg 4.2 rpg
Umoja Gibson - G 8.7 ppg
Kur Kuath - F 7.9 ppg 5.1 rpg
Alondes Williams - G 7.9 ppg
I've seen a few of their games this year. We should beat them inside. Kuath 6'10" from Sudan is solid, though not spectacular inside. Again, watch out for Manek 6'9". This guy is deceptively good. He'll grab the boards, hit a jumper, hit a 3 pointer, make a steal, make an assist, do it all. The Sooners run a lot of stuff on offense through Manek. Still, while the above two are quite capable, they simply don't match our athleticism inside. Keep Manek tightly guarded, don't let him loose or lose track of where he is, and get tough on the boards and we should win inside.
Our Horns will play without our glorious leader--Shaka. Fortunately, Shaka has instilled enough discipline and b-ball intelligence into this squad that they'll manage allright without him tonight.
This is an important game that could push us well above all teams in the conference not named Baylor, or head us in the direction of a sizeable pack of good ranked teams below Baylor. We've got to be tough on defense and fight through screens. OU defends well too. Our tough D, hit our shots and free throws, keep Manek in check = Longhorn victory.
And, in case anyone forgot, OU sucks.
No. 5 Texas hosts surging No. 24 Oklahoma without Shaka Smart
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2020-21 Oklahoma Sooners Stats | ESPN
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Last edited: Jan 26, 2021