Porter Moser dismisses idea Oklahoma lacks go-to guy

Following the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Texas Longhorns, head coach Porter Moser was asked if he had concerns that the Sooners didn’t have a go-to player to step up in key situations.

Moser quickly dismissed the idea that Oklahoma lacks a go-to guy and put blame for the loss on himself. He also emphasized that he’s not concerned about the Sooners long-term this season.

“I don’t think we’re lacking it,” Porter Moser said emphatically. “I’m not gonna panic. We’ve got three losses before this to two top-five teams and TCU, who is in the Top 25. I’m not gonna say to my guys, we don’t have a guy to go do it. They’ve been doing it all year.”

Texas beat Oklahoma 75-60 on the back of a strong second half performance by the Longhorns where the Sooners struggled to score.

“Javian McCollum is an outstanding guard. Milos Uzan is an outstanding guard. I’m not gonna sit here after a tough loss and say we don’t have a guy to go get it. We do. I’ve got to put them in better positions,” Moser said.

“We’ve got to play tougher against a tougher defense. We’ve done that all year, we’ve played tough defenses, we were tough as hell at Cincinnati. We weren’t tonight. Credit Texas. We’ll get better with that, but I’m not gonna say that we don’t have a go-to guy. We’ve got guys that have been stepping up all year.”

McCollum and Uzan are the only two players on Oklahoma’s roster to average more than 30 minutes a game. Overall, the Sooners have flexed their depth this season, with eight players averaging double digit minutes in every game played.

“Hell, you don’t get to be where we’re at, at 15-3 and 11th in the country without having guys. I’m not throwing any of those guys under the bus. We didn’t play well tonight. Starts with me. I know those guys, they’re in the mirror looking at themselves too, and we’ve got to come back and bounce back from this game.”

Porter Moser ended by apologizing to Oklahoma fans for the loss and praising the home atmosphere.

“And I apologize to Sooner Nation, man, but I’ve been working out to get this crowd like this. They were great. They were great and we didn’t win. We didn’t win tonight. We’ll bounce back. We’ll bounce back.”

Porter Moser credits Big 12 teams for work in transfer portal

Part of Oklahoma’s success this season, according to Porter Moser, comes down to how the Sooners have used the transfer portal. That’s something that he feels the entirety of the Big 12 has done success with.

“I’ll tell you, I think the Big 12 has done as good a job in the portal as anybody in the country… I’m gonna keep going down every single team and I’m gonna name you three or four guys. I think this whole league has done a great job of evaluating and getting pieces that fit who they are, fit what they’re doing, and I don’t know a league that top to bottom — tremendous success in this league with portal guys. Older, physical, fits what their program is doing,” Moser said.

“And that’s what I’d say about us. Our guys fit. Javian [McCollum], we really wanted, needed speed, shooting at that guard spot. We needed some older big wings that could defend physically against higher level athletes. Rivaldo Soares. Le’Tre Darthard. John [Hugley] gives us a big, physical presence. So, we did well in the portal of getting needs we had and I don’t think you can look further than the Big 12 to find a league that has done the same. Tremendous success from every program on getting portal pieces that fit.”