Moser, Sooners prepare for clash at McCasland Field House
For Porter Moser, atmosphere and environment have been things he's talked about improving a lot since he was hired as the Sooners' coach in 2021. Engaging the fan base — particularly OU students — has been an ongoing goal, too.
The Sooners are likely going to accomplish all three things tonight as they prepare for a clash against Arkansas Pine Bluff (7 p.m. ESPN+), because the Sooners won't be playing at Lloyd Noble Center. They'll be playing at McCasland Field House, where the Sooners used to play their home games until the Lloyd Noble Center opened in the '70s.
Oh, and tonight's game will be free admission for students.
"I'm excited about this game and the atmosphere there," Moser said during Wednesday's media availability. "I'm a historian. I love history, paving the way for the future. I came here for a volleyball game my first year here. And to see Alvan Adams, Gar Heard, legends who played here. I just started visualizing like, what would it look like with this vertical arena? I've been everywhere trying to get the students to have such an impact, so I just thought it'd be cool for the students to see how loud it can get right on top of the floor. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere."
The Sooners played their first home game at McCasland Field House in 1928 against Kansas, a matchup they won 45-19. The field house, located right in the heart of campus, served as the home of OU basketball for nearly five decades and is now where the volleyball team plays its matches.
McCasland is quite a bit smaller than the Lloyd Noble Center, but it offers a few advantages. Mainly, the seating is a lot closer to the court, with crowd noise likely playing a bigger factor than it would at Lloyd Noble Center.
Moser is hoping the fans use that to their advantage.
"The students have been – I just think they're so high energy," Moser said. "I think I'm building a great relationship with them, and I just constantly want them to know how much they mean to our program. But also I think it's just part of your college experience to get behind your sports teams. What draws you to Oklahoma is their passion for their sports teams, and it starts with the students."
The No. 25-ranked Sooners have a few other reasons to be excited, too. They're 6-0 after impressive wins against USC and Iowa last week at the Rady Childrens' Invitational, and they landed in the AP Poll on Monday for the first time in the Moser era.
The Sooners' new transfers have made a huge impact to start the season. Point guard Javian McCollum is second on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game. Big man John Hugley is averaging 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds off the bench, and he made three crucial 3-pointers in the win over USC. Starting forward Jalon Moore scored a game-high 18 points against Iowa, and he's fourth on the team in scoring (9.0 points per game) while shooting nearly 54% from the floor.
But nobody has stood out more than sophomore guard Otega Oweh, who scored the game-winning tip-in against USC as time expired. Oweh leads the team in scoring (15.0 per game) and steals (2.3 per game) and shooting 66% from the floor.
“What I really liked (about) what I saw, and that’s what you want to talk to everyone about — is there’s gonna be a lot of opportunities to help you win the game," Moser said. "(Oweh) had a foul which I didn’t think was a foul. He had a tough play before that, he missed a shot. And then he comes in and crashes the glass with extreme effort to get the game winner. That’s what you wanna take away. Don’t just sit there and pout and think backwards.
"I’m always talking about a race to maturity, that was a play of race to maturity for Otega. He had two things that didn’t go his way, and he just went completely (out) crashing the offensive glass to get the game-winning tip-in. That’s a race to maturity. An immature would’ve been like, ‘I’m not crashing.’ So I really thought he did a great job.”
The Sooners have a lot of momentum heading into tonight's game at McCasland Field House, something that's been hard to come by. Their spot in the AP Poll is the latest example of that. But Moser is telling his team to keep climbing.
“I told our guys being ranked is not the destination," Moser said. "It’s just part of the process if you’re moving where you want to go. It’s part of where you want to go. We want fans to get excited. It’s just part of where we want to go. But it’s not the destination. Those guys have to keep that in perspective. There’s reasons why we’re doing things good. I think we’re really doing things defensively. We’re offensive rebounding. We’ve been pretty efficient offensively. So we’ve gotta keep doing those things. But it’s a complete chase. You’re chasing where you wanna go. We didn’t chase being in the top 25, it’s just part of the process of where we’re trying to go.”