Time to see if OU basketball has learned the lessons

One thing OU basketball head coach Porter Moser has been pretty consistent about saying is every coach feels their conference is a grind.

You get to this part of the year, it’s as big of a mental battle as it is physical. But for the first four seasons at OU, it truly felt like an all-time grind for Moser.

This year in the SEC? Doesn’t exactly feel the same way. It’s going to be tough, of course, but it’s not going to be a year where 14 of 16 teams make the NCAA Tournament.

There is some good with that and maybe some bad. Simply put, you have to take care of business. Almost no loss last season felt bad. There are bad losses on this schedule this time around, have to avoid them.

Ole Miss (8-5) at OU (10-3)
When: 2:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network

That begins with the Rebels coming to town. Maybe Ole Miss has learned from its rough start, but it’s still absolutely a game OU has to win.

You cannot have three non-conference losses and then drop a home opener against a team you should beat. Cannot happen this time around.

And the way that perhaps that won’t happen is because OU has learned what it needed to learn from those non-conference defeats.

“I think this team cares,” Moser told SoonerScoop. “It’s been one of our biggest strengths. They’ve been able to take film sessions when we haven’t done something well and applied it. So absolutely. I love coaching this group because they do that. We got a lot to improve on, and each one of ’em has an individual cross to bear that they have to get better, and then collectively we have (that).

“But the thing that gets you going as a player and as a coach when you look at the player, and he really cares about getting better. He applies it. A lot of times the guys are lip service. They’ll nod their head, but you don’t see any change in their push to get better. That’s where I think this group, when they see it, talk about it and then see an intentionality to try to address things. You have to have that going forward. Have to have a relentless pursuit of getting better heading into this league. Every game, you have to pick yourself up, whether you won or lost and get better. That’s what we’re about to enter into.”

Losses to Gonzaga, Nebraska and Arizona State felt like pure teaching moments. What afflicted OU in those games hasn’t shown up again. It has to stay that way.

Nobody is questioning the connectivity of this team. They’re together. But all that camaraderie isn’t going to mean anything if they cannot execute.

“I think we just learned how to fight through adversity together,” guard Nijel Pack said. “We had some early tests. Some of them didn’t go our way. We won some. It was just good for us to be able to learn how to play on the road in different environments.

“I feel like that shapes us better for this league. Playing on the road, some places are gonna be tougher than others, but for us to get those early tests and learn from them and get better, I just feel like it’s sets us up better for this league.”

OU should get a boost as well with Moser saying backup center Kai Rogers will be available. And Dayton Forsythe, who has missed the last two games, is probable.

Scouting Ole Miss

It’s Chris Beard, you know what you’re getting. No singular standout like last year with Sean Pedulla, but the Rebels are plenty deep. OU knows what it has to do.

“So it’s gonna be a typical SEC game,” Moser said. “They’re long, they rebound, they’ve got multiple guys that can score. And then knowing Chris Beard’s teams, it’s just gonna be like going to the dentist to try to score against. I mean, just very, very physical on everything they do.”