With one nonconference game under their belt, men’s Oklahoma basketball jumps right into Big 12 play on Sunday.
Riding the momentum of a 105-66 drubbing of UT-San Antonio in their season-opener, the Sooners head to Ft. Worth, Texas, this weekend for a rare Sunday tip-off and equally rare Big 12 opener this early in the season against TCU.
It will be just the second game of the 2020-21 season for Oklahoma, but it will be game five for 4-0 TCU. The Horned Frogs’ record might be a little deceiving, given that three of their four wins have been by six points or less.
TCU is averaging 67.3 points per game, with two starters averaging double digits. Junior guard RJ Nembhard is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 15.0 in the first four games. Junior center Kevin Samuel averages 11.0 points per game.
While the Sooners eclipsed the century mark in their opening game at home, going on road to face a Big 12 opponent poses a much different challenge. The Horned Frogs lead the conference in scoring defense at this very early point in the season, holding their opponents under 60 points a game and just 22-percent shooting from behind the perimeter.
Seniors Brady Manek and Austin Reeves are Oklahoma’s main offensive threats, although the Sooners got a 22-point contribution off the bench from De’Vion Harmon in their opening win.
Manek poured in a game-high 29 points in the OU win over UTSA, including a career-high 8 of 11 from behind the three-point line. Oklahoma will need another big game from Manek and from Reeves at TCU on Sunday.
Oklahoma swept the season series with TCU a year ago, winning 83-63 in Norman and a dramatic, buzzer-beating come-from behind victory at TCU on what became the final game of the COVID-shortened season for the Sooners.
OU was down by as many as 19 points in the second half of the game at TCU. Reeves scored 15 of his career-high 41, including the game-winner, in the final five minutes of the game.
The Sooners are 25-4 all-time against TCU on the hardwood, including 11-2 in games played in Ft. Worth. OU has won the last six games in the series.