Sooners take control early, never look back vs. Iowa
This weekend is about learning something about this Sooners basketball team. And their first impression on a national stage couldn’t have gone any better.
OU took control early and never looked back in a 79-67 victory against Iowa on Thursday afternoon at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.
One thing head coach Porter Moser has said repeatedly is he feels like the team has eight starters. That experience and depth has meant on any given night, it could be any number of players stepping up.
It was that way for the Sooners against the Hawkeyes.
Jalon Moore paved the way with 18 points, but four players scored more than double-digits. Four of OU’s starting five players had at least 11 points.
Iowa came into the game averaging 95 points per game, but OU limited the Hawkeyes to 24 points in the first half and only 36 percent shooting for the game.
After taking a 36-24 advantage into the break, the Sooners opened the second half strong and kept Iowa at a safe distance the rest of the way.
Iowa was only 4-of-23 shooting from 3-point territory and three of those makes occurred in the final three minutes of the game.
It was a bit of a coming out party for Moore, who had one highlight reel moment after another. He scored those 18 points on just 6 of 7 shooting and added five rebounds.
Sam Godwin had 11 points and five rebounds. Otega Oweh had 13 points, four steals and four rebounds.
The two point guards, Javian McCollum and Milos Uzan, impacted the game in different way. McCollum had 14 points. Uzan only had four points, but he was the facilitator with nine of the Sooners’ 15 assists.
Up next
OU goes for the two-game sweep in San Diego. The Sooners (5-0) will play the winner of Seton Hall and USC on Friday afternoon.
