Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser came in saying the first game of the NIT is always the toughest one. Not necessarily because of the opponent, but because of the mindset.
Having to physically and mentally bounce back from not being able to make the NCAA tournament and then turn around 48 hours later and be back on the court.
That first one is in the books for the No. 1-seeded Sooners with an impressive 89-72 victory against Missouri State on Tuesday evening in the first round of the NIT.
OU (19-15 overall) will play the winner of St. Bonaventure/Colorado on Sunday at Lloyd Noble Center. The time has not been released.
“They should be proud of themselves. It's a life lesson. I said it the other night. I was gutted. But I was more gutted for them. I should have a lot more in my career. Players have a limited number. So I really was heartbroken for them. And then it was really tough.
“When they walked out of here, we were like 'man, we have to turn around here and play.' We regrouped on Monday and we just talked about it. We talked about the life lesson of how you react when it doesn't go your way. That's what character is.”
It was the guards that set the tone, and then everybody else found their groove as well. Mo Gibson scored 17 of his 28 points in the first half, while Jordan Goldwire had 13 of his 15 points in the first half.
OU led 47-41 at halftime before carrying the day in the second half. That included the bench players with C.J. Noland, Ethan Chargois and Marvin Johnson coming up big in the second half, allowing OU to coast in the final minutes.
“I challenged some other guys. I thought C.J. Noland, Ethan and Marvin gave us great minutes in the second half,” Moser said. “It's just a life lesson that they can carry on how you react when you get knocked down. I thought they played hard, they played spirited and they beat a great team.”
Notes and observations
*Going to go two ways here with this. Start with Goldwire. Because a lot of the NIT talk has been about building toward next season, but Goldwire cannot do that.
He’s one of the three super seniors, to go with Johnson and Chargois, who don’t have the option of returning next season.
But Goldwire was the one who set the tone early. He finished with 15 points, eight assists and three blocks.
“For sure. We’re still playing for something,” Goldwire said. “It’s not what we intended on. It wasn’t our goal for the year. Like coach said, we still get an opportunity to play and lace ‘em up. And with this being my last go-around, definitely just want to make the best of it.”
*Then flip it around to someone like Noland. He played in the Big 12 tournament, but he didn’t have impactful minutes and wasn’t on the court during crunch time.
He played 21 minutes vs. Missouri State and had six points, six rebounds, two steals and one block. Easily, one of his most productive outings in 2022.
“I thought he had good energy. I thought he got to a bunch of loose balls,” Moser said. “He got some defensive stops. He got a couple rebounds. Next thing you know, he got a transition, then he made a cut. He was doing a lot of things and we needed that. I thought he had a really good second half and we’re gonna feed off that and build off that with him.”
