Oklahoma basketball: Sooners close out nonconference schedule at Northwestern

By Chip Rouse | Dec 21, 2018

NORMAN, OK - FEBRUARY 05: Head Coach Lon Kruger of the Oklahoma Sooners appeals to an official during the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Lloyd Noble Center on February 5, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. West Virginia defeated Oklahoma 75-73. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

Game No. 12 on the men’s Oklahoma basketball schedule closes out the 2018-19 upfront nonconference slate and is a big game for the Sooners.

The Sooners (10-1) and just one spot out of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings are at Northwestern Friday night, the ninth game out of the dozen so far this season OU has been away from the Lloyd Noble Center.

A road win against a good Northwestern team would likely elevate Oklahoma into the top 25 rankings for the first time this season and the first time since last February. Sadly, it could be a short-lived visit to the rankings. OU’s next game after Friday night is on the road again, the Sooners’ Big 12 opener, at No. 1 Kansas.

Friday’s game at Northwestern marks the Sooners’ first game in the Chicago area since 1947. Among Oklahoma’s 11 wins this year are two true road wins (to begin the season at UT Rio Grande Valley and UT-San Antonio) and neutral-court victories over Notre Dame, Wichita State, USC along with a pair of wins (over Florida and Dayton) in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in November.

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The Sooners are winning games this season playing quality complementary basketball on both ends of the court. At least three different players have reached double digits in scoring in each of OU’s games this season, and eight of the nine players in coach Lon Kruger’s rotation have scored in double figures at least once this season. That is the definition of a balanced offensive attack.

Senior Christian James is averaging 18.5 points a game, fourth best in the Big 12 and has four consecutive double-doubles (10 or more points and rebounds). That ties him with Dedric Lawson of Kansas. No other player in the Big 12 has more than one this season).

Oklahoma is also winning because of sound, fundamental defensive play, an attribute they were badly missing a year ago. The Sooners are holding their opponents to 37-percent field-goal shooting. That’s second best in the Big 12 and ranks seventh nationally.

The Sooners and Northwestern (8-3) have played just once before in their history. That was last season, with OU pounding the Wildcats, out of the Big Ten, 104-78 in Norman, scoring 68 points in the opening half. Oklahoma is 2-5 against Big Ten teams in the seven-plus seasons Lon Kruger has been at OU, including a 20-point, 78-58 loss to Wisconsin for the Sooners only loss this season.

Northwestern lost by just two points, 62-60,at home to No, 5 Michigan on Dec, 4. So this will be a big final nonconference test for the Sooner men before they begin Big 12 play.

So far Oklahoma is looking much better than their projected eighth-place finish in the Big 12 preseason coaches poll. Sooner fans are hoping they can sustain that success. A win at Northwestern would be a giant step along that path.

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