If you're one who might be of the opinion things couldn't get any worse for this season's edition of Oklahoma men's basketball, I'm sorry to inform you that the Sooners may not quite have hit rock bottom just yet.
The Sooners will be in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday afternoon to do battle with the 15th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in what could be Oklahoma's most difficult challenge of the season. On top of that, the Sooners are bringing with them some unsettling baggage: a near-record-setting nine-game losing streak. The OU program record for consecutive losses, which has stood for 62 years, is 10.
With the indication by the ESPN College Basketball Power Index that Oklahoma has the country's most difficult remaining schedule, the likelihood of things getting any better for the Crimson and Cream anytime soon doesn't appear that good.
At least one SEC team of recent vintage can commiserate with what Oklahoma is going through this season. The 2023-24 Missouri Tigers shockingly lost all 18 of their conference games, plus one more in the SEC Tournament, totaling 19 consecutive losses. The Sooners have at least one SEC win to their credit, so they won't go winless through the conference schedule, but given who OU has left to play, the road ahead definitely doesn't look all that promising.
All head coach Porter Moser and his team can do is get ready to play the next game on the schedule and give their best effort. And the next team up is Vanderbilt.
Oklahoma and Vanderbilt have met a total of four times on the basketball court, with each team winning twice. The most recent game was last season in the Sooners' first year as a member of the SEC. OU prevailed in that game 97-67 in Norman. Oklahoma has won the last two games in the series, winning again by at least 30 points, 86-55, in 2019 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. That game was also played in Norman.
The last time OU visited Vanderbilt was in 1955. The Commodores won that contest 78-69.
Saturday's game between Vanderbilt and visiting Oklahoma is scheduled to tip off at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on SEC Network.
What to know about Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt has not played since last Saturday and should be more rested than the Sooners. Vandy takes a three-game winning streak into the game with Oklahoma, featuring consecutive wins over Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss. The victory over Kentucky in Nashville was by 25 points, 80-55. The Commodores' three wins were preceded by three straight losses to Texas, Florida and Arkansas, all teams OU has already lost to.
Sophomore Tyler Tanner is Vanderbilt's leading scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game. He has scored in double digits in 21 of the Commodores' 22 games this season. Following close behind is graduate Duke Miles, a former Oklahoma Sooner. Miles is averaging 16.6 for the Commodores. He averaged 9.4 for Oklahoma last season before entering the Transfer Portal at season's end. Senior Tyler Nickel shoots 45% from behind the three-point line and averages 14.5 points and 3.2 three-pointers per game.
Vanderbilt ranks second in the SEC in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio, which indicates the Commodores have excellent ball movement at the offensive end, take good shots and don't commit many turnovers. They are also an outstanding free throw and three-point-shooting team, No. 2 in the conference.
The Commodores began the season 16-0 before suffering their first loss, 80-64, at Texas. That was followed by two more consecutive losses.
What to know about Oklahoma
Four of Oklahoma's five starters average in double figures in the scoring column. The problem has been that they rarely are all on their game at the same time. Xzayvier Brown leads OU in scoring with a 16.4 average. Nigel Pack averages 15.8, with the bulk of his points coming from the perimeter. Brown, a transfer from St. Joseph's, has 10 games of 20-plus points in the Sooners' 23 games this season to lead the team. Pack has six such efforts.
The Sooners have lost their last nine games (one shy of tying an all-time Oklahoma record), but they have led at halftime in four of the last six games. They have held double-digit, first-half leads in three of the last six outings and have led in three of the last six with less than six minutes remaining in the game.
Oklahoma is 1-6 in true road games this season. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt is 11-1 at Memorial Coliseum this season. The Sooners' shooting percentage also has fallen off noticeably in away games. OU shoots just barely over 40% on the road this season, 6% below the team's overall average for the season.
OU ranks fifth in the SEC, averaging 9.96 turnovers per game. The Sooners committed just six turnovers in the loss earlier this week to Kentucky, tying a season low. That was the 12th time this season Oklahoma has turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in a game. Unfortunately, ball security is just one of several elements that deliver victories.
Predicting Oklahoma vs. Vanderbilt
As much as I and others would like to see Oklahoma pull off the upset against a very good Vanderbilt team, if it were to happen it would be considered one of the biggest of the college basketball season. The Sooners just don't have their collective act together, and they aren't consistent or tenacious enough on the offense end. Another tough double-digit loss. This one matches an all-time worst for Oklahoma men's basketball.