Porter Moser shares pregame message to Tanner Groves on senior day

Poster Moser sent his seniors off on the right note on Saturday, as the Sooners upset No. 22 TCU 74-60 at home on their senior day. Oklahoma senior Tanner Groves has a stellar performance in his final home game, and after the game, Moser shared what his message was to Groves heading into his senior day.

“What I wanted him to is I wanted him to take it all in, take it all in, take the atmosphere in, enjoy it,” Moser said. “But also no regrets, I go combine some joy with some competitiveness. Sometimes he’s been so tight and he wants it so bad, I go combine your competitiveness with some joy and I thought he did.”

Groves took Moser’s message to heart, ending the game with a season-high 23 points along with 10 rebounds. It marked his fifth double-double of the season, as he showed a whole new level of aggression on the offensive end of the floor. Groves took matters into his own hands in his final game in Norman, taking the most shot attempts he has this season since their fourth game of the season versus South Alabama.

“He looked like he was having a ton of fun and I don’t think anybody played harder on the floor than Tanner Groves did tonight. He even drew I think nine fouls, that just shows you, when someone draws nine fouls you’re being really aggressive,” Moser explained.

Groves transferred to Oklahoma from Eastern Washington in Moser’s first season at the helm, giving the two a special bond that was evident on Saturday night.

“And I told him how much he meant to me, that I know where we’re going with this and he’s the first one that believed and said I believe in this. And he’s everything I’m about and I’m happy he had this moment tonight, but also just you got to keep believing, you got to find another path,” Moser said.

It was a disappointing regular season for the Sooners, as they finished last in the Big 12 standings and will enter the conference tournament as the No. 10 seed without any byes. The odds are stacked against them, but Moser believes that the flashes of greatness shown by his squad could give them a chance.

“I told the guys to visualize when we’ve played our best, that’s what I wanted this team to do. I told them at shoot around this morning, visualize when we’ve been our best because we’ve beaten some of the top teams in the country, we’ve competed against the top teams in the country when we’re at our best,” Moser said. “And I thought tonight there were a lot of times we were at our best.”