Report Card: Backcourt leads the way in win over UAPB

After a tough road loss to Gonzaga, Porter Moser’s squad returned home for their annual student-only game at McCasland Field House to face Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Sooners got back in the win column with a 95-69 victory. In a game that was too close for too long, Oklahoma’s backcourt ultimately carried the way.

Let’s take a look at how the backcourt — and every player who saw action tonight — graded out in the win:

Starting Five

Guard: Xzayvier Brown — 81 — 19 points, four rebounds, four steals, three assists, and zero turnovers on 7-13 shooting from the field and 0-4 from deep. There was a lot to like about his performance. Really encouraging to see flashes of him being an alpha guard. Would like to see him get going from deep. Zero turnovers is also a great sign.

Guard: Nijel Pack — 84 — 15 points, three assists, and three rebounds on 5-8 shooting from the field and 5-7 from deep. This is the Pack experience. You get a rough shooting night against Gonzaga, and then he goes and does this the next game. He’s been fun to watch. Foul trouble limited his minutes, but he played really well.

Wing: Derrion Reid — 76 — 12 points and two rebounds on 5-8 shooting from the field and 0-2 from deep. This is an interesting one. Reid really hasn’t been bad at all. He’s actually been solid. He just hasn’t been great. Maybe my expectations were a bit high early on. Would like to see him be more aggressive at times.

Wing: Tae Davis — 72 — 13 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, and three steals on 5-13 shooting from the field and 0-2 from deep. The stat line looks really good, but most of those rebounds came off his own misses at the rim. Thought it was an okay night for him. He hasn’t looked like the scorer that I expected yet, but did show flashes defensively on the perimeter.

Center: Mohamed Wague — 67 — 6 points and 6 rebounds on 1-3 shooting from the field and 4-6 from the free throw line. He had zero fouls in 21 minutes. Thought he was fine tonight. Nothing special, but he stayed on the floor — and that’s what you need from him. The Sooners can’t afford for him to be in foul trouble, so credit to him for staying out of it.

Starting Five Average Grade: 76

Bench

Guard: Dayton Forsythe — 83 — 15 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 3-6 from deep. There are still things to clean up defensively, but he looked really good tonight. Did good things both on and off the ball. Twenty-two minutes just isn’t enough. They have to get him on the floor more, even if it means going small. He plays really well with both Pack and Brown.

Wing: Jeff Nwankwo — 62 — 7 points and 5 rebounds on 3-7 shooting from the field and 1-3 from deep. Thought it was another rough performance. Took some bad shots and had a few rough moments. Feels like he’s still adjusting after the Achilles injury because his touch around the rim hasn’t looked right. Stock down.

Wing: Kuol Atak — 66 — 5 points on 2-5 shooting from the field and 1-4 from deep. The guards finally found him in transition for three. One thing’s for sure — he’s not afraid to shoot it, which is exactly what you want. Had a nice baseline drive and finish at the rim. Scoring off the dribble is the next step for him offensively.

Center: Kai Rogers — 55 — 0 points and 2 assists in 10 minutes of play. It wasn’t great when he was in, but he had some solid defensive possessions in the first half. Moves really well for his size, but you can tell he’s a freshman. Lots of rookie mistakes. Oklahoma needs him to mature quickly.

Bench Average Grade: 66.5

Overall Grade: 70.7

It was really ugly at times. Arkansas Pine-Bluff is bad — ranked 364th in KenPom — but the bright spot was the guard play. However, tonight’s game raises a pretty clear predicament: Dayton Forsythe needs more minutes.

At some point, Oklahoma is just going to have to play all three guards on the floor at once. It’s a small lineup, but the playmaking and shooting improve significantly. And even though Pack, Forsythe, and Brown would be small out there, you might actually see better defensive intensity.

The bottom line is that Forsythe has to be on the floor more than 20 minutes a night. You can’t play Brown or Pack less, so the logical solution would be to trim some of Nwankwo’s minutes and run the three-guard lineup more often.

Additionally, I’d still like to see more from Davis. Thirteen points and fifteen rebounds looks good on paper, but there was really only one moment where he flashed offensively. Oklahoma needs him to become a commanding scorer who can create his own shot. If this is just a slump, the team will be fine.

Ultimately, there were positives — especially in the backcourt — but this wasn’t an inspiring performance. The Sooners will face Nebraska on Saturday in Sioux Falls (6:00 PM, Big Ten Network), and that’s a game they have to win. Hopefully, some of these deficiencies will be corrected by then.

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