Oklahoma men's basketball coach Porter Moser has been vocal and highly emotional in recent weeks wanting more toughness, energy and better execution from his team that began the season with 13 consecutive wins before losing four straight SEC conference games.
On Saturday night, on the road at Arkansas, the Sooners delivered just that, and it paid off in a 65-62 Oklahoma win.
With a crowd of more than 19,000 looking on at Bud Walton Arena, where Arkansas had won its last eight home games, the Razorbacks delighted the highly partisan audience, jumping out to a 5-0 start. At that point, it seemed that the Sooners were going to get off to another one of the slow starts that doomed them in their opening four conference losses.
It remained fairly close for the first seven minutes of the game before Oklahoma turned it up a notch and went on a 23-10 run to go up by 13 with a little more than four minutes left before halftime. Arkansas went on a short run of its own to close within four, 35-31, at the half.
The lead went back and forth in the second half. There were two lead changes and six ties over the final 20 minutes. Despite nine turnovers and 0-for-5 3-point shooting in the second half, the Sooners rallied over the final 10 minutes and held off Arkansas in the final minute to pick up their second straight SEC win.
Arkansas (12-8, 1-6) played without its second-leading scorer, Boogie Fland, considered one of the top freshmen in the country, who is out with a hand injury. Fland was averaging 15.1 points per game.
With the win, Oklahoma improved to 15-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference. The Sooners stay on the road in the coming week for a Tuesday rematch with No. 13 Texas A&M before returning to Lloyd Noble Center to host Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.
In the last meeting between the Sooners and A&M, OU blew an 18-point second-half lead in an 80-78 loss to the Aggies.
3 takeaways from the win:
1. All eight OU second-half FGs were in close at rim
Oklahoma struggled offensively in the second half, shooting just 33% from the field (8 of 20). All eight second-half field goals were either layups or dunks. The Sooners were 0-for-5 on 3-point attempts in the second half after going 7-for-16 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
2. Brycen Goodine back in starting lineup and delivers
Fairfield transfer Brycen Goodine scored a season-high 34 points, including six 3-pointers, in a loss to Texas A&M on Jan. 8. In three games since then, however, he had scored a total of 11 points. His red-hot shooting form returned against Arkansas.
Goodine drained three of his first four 3-point attempts, all in the opening half in helping the Sooners mount a 13-point first-half advantage. He ended the game with nine points on 3 of 6 shooting. Although making his fifth straight start, Goodine got into foul trouble and played only 19 minutes.
3. OU uncharacteristically wins battle of boards
For the first time in six SEC conference games, Oklahoma won the rebounding battle.
The Sooners entered the game dead last in the SEC in rebounding. OU was plus-eight in rebound margin in the first half and outrebounded Arkansas 35-29 for the game.
Porter Moser had said in his pregame radio interview that rebounding would be a key to the game and the outcome proved the Sooner head coach correct.