Oklahoma, hoping to ride the momentum of its championship performance in capturing the Battle 4 Atlantis title last week in the Bahamas and top-25 ranking this week in the national polls, hosts Georgia Tech on Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Tuesday night's contest is part of the 2024 SEC/ACC Basketball Challenge. It is the second year for the event and the first for Oklahoma in the Sooners' inaugural season in the SEC.
Oklahoma has started out the season with seven straight wins and broke into the top 25 for the first time this week, settling in at No. 21 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll. This the second consecutive season the Sooners have started out 7-0 and the first time in program history OU has gone back-to-back seasons without losing through the first seven games.
The Sooners are hoping to keep the winning streak going against a Georgia Tech team that is 4-3 this season. The Yellow Jackets have played just two opponents from a major conference, losing at home to rival Georgia 77-69 and to Cincinnati 81-58. The trip to Oklahoma will be Georgia Tech's first game away from home this season.
This will be the fifth meeting all-time on the hardwood between the Sooners and Yellow Jackets. The series is tied 2-2. The first two games were played in Norman, in 1982 and 1985, with OU winning both games. Georgia Tech's two wins came in 1994 in the former Rainbow Classic and a year later in the second round of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament.
Oklahoma is led in the scoring column by senior Jalon Moore, who ironically began his career at Georgia Tech, and true freshman Jeremiah Fears. Moore averages 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and Fears is close behind at 16.9. Georgia Tech has four double-digit scorers in its lineup, led by Lance Terry at 14.7 per game and Baye Ndonngo at 14.0 points along with 7.9 rebounds.
While OU boasts a player who will be going against his former team, Georgia Tech also has a starter who will be facing his former team on Tuesday night. Javian McCollum returns to the LNC one year removed from leading the Sooners in scoring with a 13.3 average and 3.4 assists last season. McCollum, who transferred to Oklahoma in 2023 after two seasons at Siena in upstate New York, is averaging 12.8 for the Yellow Jackets this season.
Both teams average right at 80 points per game through seven games. Oklahoma is a little better defensively, holding opponents to 65 points a game, 10 points better than the Yellow Jackets. In addition, the Sooners rank in the top 25 nationally in three statistical categories: 11th in the nation in steals per game (10.7), 22nd in 3-point percentage (37.5) and 23rd in free-throw percentage (78.8).
Tuesday night's game will be televised by ESPNU at 8 p.m. CT.
Prediction
Oklahoma has more scorers and has a deeper bench than Georgia Tech. Oklahoma wins by 8 at home, 78-70.
Read more about OU men's basketball
Men's basketball has been going better than football for Oklahoma
Oklahoma men crack top 25 this week at No. 21 in AP, Coaches Poll
Sooners go to 7-0 with win over Louisville for Battle 4 Atlantis championship