OU basketball bounces back, rolls in annual McCasland game

The atmosphere for OU basketball was everything head coach Porter Moser was hoping for, but a little bit of an uneven outing.

OU never truly asserted itself but also was never truly in any sort of danger. A win, but one that Moser knows there is a lot to be getting better at.

In the annual game at the historic McCasland Field House, OU took down visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff 95-69 on Tuesday night.

OU hovered around a double-digit lead for most of the second half, but it still felt like something was just a bit off.

It wasn’t until the under eight media timeout where you could officially breathe, relax and enjoy the show, which most of the time came because of the deep ball.

“They ran into an extended 1-3-1 and they were pretty long up there,” Moser said. “They were 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, and they were pretty long for our guards. Did a nice job with that. We didn’t get it past the front line a lot. Then we finally did when we got it to the middle, next thing you know we skipped it to Jeff and Nijel hit a 3. Then they got out of it for a minute then they went back to it. You’ve gotta be aggressive when teams do that.

“We could be much better. You don’t see a lot of it but when you do see that 1-3-1 extended, you need those top guys to be aggressive. You’ve gotta get it to the middle, you’ve gotta flatten out. As it went on, we were better at it.”

Breaking it down

*Maybe not the execution at all times, but a solid bounce back from Tae Davis. Looked a lot more engaged and earned his initial double-double at OU. Davis closed with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

It really was the transfers who had to carry the day. Between Davis and Nijel Pack, that was the duo that made sure it never got too interesting.

Pack had 15 points, all coming from downtown. He connected on five of them.

“I think Tae took the message in the film session about offensive rebounding, I guess, with 11,” Moser said. ”I thought he got his athleticism into the game. He impacted the game. Tae with 15 rebounds, 13 points, four assists, three steals, two blocks. I thought Tae Davis really had a… I know Nijel got in foul trouble but it just seemed like he hit some big shots when the other team was trying to run and all of a sudden Nijel would knock down a shot. Thought Dayton’s minutes were back to being Dayton. He was plus-24 in his minutes. I thought Dayton did some good things giving us a lift.”

Then Xzayvier Brown got into the act down the stretch, too, including four steals. He finished with 19 points.

*It was at this McCasland game last season where everybody realized Dayton Forsythe was going to be more than just a token player for OU.

Everybody knows what Forsythe brings to the table now. And with Pack in foul trouble, at times, Forsythe came up huge.

*Kudos to the students, kudos to the atmosphere. That is a lot more like it. Last year, the timing was just off with finals week. Energy was fantastic at McCasland. Hard to see this going away anytime soon. Job well done by the Boom Squad.

*Former OU star Jalon Moore was in the house and earned a standing ovation. Moore is going to be that guy known for getting OU basketball back where the fans want it. The foundation, hopefully, of what is to come.

“He texted me today around 3 o’clock and said he was coming,” Moser said. “I haven’t been able to say hello. I’m going to spend some time with him. You love the culture of them coming back. I love Jalon. I brought him here. He loves OU. He loves this program. Just an awesome guy.”

Up next

Let us go to South Dakota. OU will play another neutral site game as Sooners take on Nebraska at 6 p.m. Saturday. It is the second of many neutral site battles for OU throughout the course of the next month.