Porter Moser's 2024-25 Oklahoma basketball team has many of the characteristics of his previous three Sooner teams, with one distinguishable difference: This year's team is more dynamic and productive on offense.
The Sooners scored a season-high 97 points on Saturday in a 30-point win over 24th-ranked Vanderbilt. That marked OU's third win in its last four games after going 0-4 to begin SEC play.
Some coaches will tell you that the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second will in large part determine the outcome of the game. Oklahoma's performance on Saturday was a classic case in point.
The Sooners went from down 12 (36-24) with a little over four minutes remaining in the first half to up by 12 -- a 24-point turnaround -- in the first four minutes coming out of the locker room at halftime. And three minutes later, OU had stretched the advantage to 17 points (59-42).
For you number-crunching types, that represents a mind-numbing 35-2 run over 11 minutes wrapped around halftime.
The Sooners scored a season-high 61 points in the second half, shooting a blistering 73% (24 of 30, including 7 of 12 from long range). OU took three less shots than Vanderbilt in the second half and scored 15 more field goals (24-9). For the game, Oklahoma shot 63%, also a season-best.
Every season Moser has been at Oklahoma, this being his fourth, the Sooner head coach has had to replenish virtually the entire roster. This year's additions numbered seven newcomers via the transfer portal and three freshman recruits.
The difficulty in bringing in so many new players every season is chemistry and continuity. It generally takes some time for players who have never played together to gel and build trust with one another. This dynamic can often take more than just one season, a luxury that Moser and OU have not experienced the past four seasons.
The current group of Sooners seem to have come together better than any of Moser's past OU teams, and the numbers affirm that observation. Four of the Sooners' five top scorers are all new this season.
Oklahoma is averaging 80.2 points per game and is on pace to record its best offensive season under Moser and its best since 2017-18, when Trae Young led the nation in scoring (27.4) and assists (8.7) and the Sooners' averaged 85 points per contest.
While OU's scoring average this season is five points higher than its previous best over the last four years (75.4 in 2023-24), it is only eighth best in the SEC this season. The reason for that is the Sooners have the second fewest field-goal attempts in the conference, more than 200 fewer than conference scoring leader Alabama (90.2 per game).
The Sooners' lead the SEC this season in field-goal percentage (49.0), 3-point field-goal percentage (37.9) and free-throw percentage (79.1,) and rank in the top 25 in the country in all three categories. All three categories represent season highs for Oklahoma in the Moser coaching area.
Oklahoma has a daunting regular-season schedule remaining. Of the remaining 10 games (split evenly between home and away), the Sooners will face eight teams currently in the top 25.
That remaining schedule is surely one of the toughest in the country, but if Oklahoma can continue to maintain the same offensive efficiency down the stretch, it should be enough to get the Sooners over the hump and into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.