Three takeaways from Oklahoma’s 84-83 exhibition win over No. 24 Wisconsin
It doesn’t count, but it was still impressive. The Sooners went into Milwaukee and beat No. 24 Wisconsin 84-83 in an exhibition on Friday night.
Oklahoma was led by its new-look backcourt — Xzayvier Brown, who played well throughout the night, and Nijel Pack, who hit a big mid-range jumper to give the Sooners a four-point lead with less than a minute left.
Oklahoma’s retooled roster, featuring a talented backcourt, plenty of three-point shooting, and big, long wings, was on full display. And though it was only an exhibition, it’s clear that Porter Moser has a squad. It’s also worth noting that Tae Davis, arguably the best all-around player on this team, only played 17 minutes after being held out following a hard fall.
From the three-point shooting to the impressive individual performances, here are three takeaways from the exhibition win:
The Sooners have a point guard
Oklahoma believed that Xzayvier Brown was the best point guard in the portal, and that was on full display in Friday night’s game. It was an impressive outing from the junior guard who transferred in from St. Joe’s, as Brown posted a team-high 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds in a team-high 32 minutes. He shot 7-for-15 from the field, 1-for-3 from deep, and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Brown had multiple instances where he not only created for others but also created for himself and got his own shot. One of the main things that stood out was how under control and smooth he played. There were questions about how he’d translate from the A-10 to this level, and he had a really strong showing.
Oklahoma will have one of the better point guards in the conference if Brown continues to develop and grow more comfortable. And to think he’s just one of four big-time transfers the Sooners brought in — two of whom also stepped up in this game.
Three-point shooting
How about 11-of-20 from behind the arc? That’ll play.
The Sooners came out of the gate hot from deep, hitting their first five three-point attempts. Two of those came from Derrion Reid, who finished with 14 points and four rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three. That was one of the big questions coming into this season: could Reid be respectable from deep? On Friday night, he was.
Another two of those early threes came from Kuol Atak. Did you buy the stock this offseason? It feels like he’s going to be playing real minutes for the Sooners this year. Atak checked in and quickly drilled two from deep. He finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc in just 11 minutes.
Jeff Nwankwo also hit two three-pointers, which is another encouraging sign. Nwankwo was a spark off the bench with 10 points and four rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from deep.
Nijel Pack had a quiet first half but got going in the second, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three. He also added five rebounds.
Between Atak, Pack, Reid, and Nwankwo, the Sooners had a great night shooting from deep. And what’s intriguing is that Brown, Davis, and Dayton Forsythe can also knock them down. The Sooners have shooters.
Still things to clean up
You could tell this was an exhibition. Oklahoma held a somewhat comfortable 8-to-10 point lead for most of the game but went cold late, allowing Wisconsin to make a run. The Sooners also turned it over 16 times on the night.
Mohamed Wague, who finished with nine points and six rebounds, had three of them, while Davis, who scored just three points, also had three.
There’s plenty for this group to clean up, as several of the turnovers were simply unforced errors. But that’s almost what’s encouraging about this team, even with the mistakes and limited minutes from Davis, Oklahoma still pulled out a win against a ranked opponent.
If you were grading it, it might have been a B-minus performance — and the Sooners still came out on top.
The Sooners will open their season on Monday, November 3 against Saint Francis before traveling to Spokane for a big test against No. 21 Gonzaga on November 8.