Oklahoma basketball: OU’s Tanner Groves named Big 12 Newcomer of Week
By Chip Rouse
Men’s Oklahoma basketball is off to a 2-0 start to the 2021-22 season, and a big reason for that is the play of Eastern Washington transfer Tanner Groves.
Groves, who may be best remembered in this part of the country for the 35 points he scored against Kansas in last year’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
The 6-foot, 10-inch senior center/forward led the Sooners in scoring in both OU wins last week — 77-59 over Northwestern State and 96-44 over the University of Texas-San Antonio. He scored 15 against Northwestern State and 21 in OU’s win over UTSA.
He also contributed a combined 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and one steal in the two games.
Groves’ younger brother, Jacob, joined him in transferring to Oklahoma after Porter Moser was named head coach of the Sooners following the retirement of Lon Kruger.
Tanner’s 21 points against UTSA, coached by former Sooner assistant Steve Henson, came on 9 of 16 shooting. His nine field goals tied for the second most in the Big 12 last week.
The elder Groves brother finished the first week of the season averaging 18.0 points and 7.0 defensive rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the Big 12. He has a .600 field-goal percentage (15 of 25) and is one of just two Big 12 players to have a .600 or higher field-goal percentage in 25 or more field-goal attempts.
The Sooners return to action on Thursday, taking on East Carolina in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway Beach, S.C. The tournament also features Davidson, Old Dominion, Indiana State, New Mexico State, Pennsylvania and Utah State. OU will play three games in the tournament and will face either Indiana State or Old Dominion in the second game