It’s too early in the season to call Oklahoma basketball the biggest surprise team in the country, but there’s no doubt Lon Kruger’s group is among them.
Not expected to do much, especially against an ambitious schedule, the Sooners stand at 11-1 as OU gets ready for Big 12 conference action at Kansas on Wednesday evening.
OU is riding a seven-game winning streak but has not won at The Phog in more than 25 years. Certainly not an easy way to kick off the grind, but games like Wednesday are the exact reason why graduate transfer guard Miles Reynolds picked OU in the first place.
“Absolutely, yea. A top-25 matchup in Allen Fieldhouse, doesn’t get much better than that on the college stage,” Reynolds said. “This is what I wanted to get myself into, and it’s here.”
After flirting with the rankings the last month, OU officially entered the top 25 last week at No. 25 and moved up to No. 23 this week. Kansas is ranked No. 5.
OU is also ranked No. 18 in the NET rankings, which has replaced the RPI this season as a nice barometer about where teams stand regarding the NCAA tournament.
McNeace still not 100 percent
It didn’t feel like it would be that bad of an injury when center Jamuni McNeace injured his ankle in practices leading up to OU’s win vs. Notre Dame.
But nearly a full month later, and it’s still an issue. McNeace had played in the last couple of games, but it became apparent he wasn’t where he needed to be when he didn’t play in the second half or overtime of OU’s win at Northwestern.
“It’ll be day to day,” Kruger said. “But he’s more doubtful than probable. We’ll see how he feels at game time.”
Kruger said McNeace hasn’t suffered any setbacks, but he’s not quite right just yet.
“Nah, he just wasn’t comfortable,” Kruger said. He wasn’t able to run and jump like he needed to. No setback. He just wasn’t able to be productive.”
OU hoping for rest, not rust
You don’t see it too often as OU has had an 11-day break since winning in Evanston on Dec. 22. The team returned to practice on Dec. 26 and has practiced every day since.
Still, with the way OU was playing before the break, there’s a bit of a concern the break could throw off the timing and chemistry of the team.
On the other hand, it has given the Sooners ample time to scout and prep for the Jayhawks.
“I think coach set up a tough schedule to prepare us for this moment,” senior guard Christian James said. “It's gonna be a fun game. We're going to go out there, play our game and play hard. We just have to lock in and go have fun. That's the biggest thing. I told them, it's gonna be crazy in there, but that's the thing, you just gotta have fun and go play ball.”
Doolittle doing more
With the injury to McNeace, it has forced other players to step up. Initially, it was junior Matt Freeman, who was able to put together consecutive big outings.
In the previous two games, though, it has been junior Kristian Doolittle. Admittedly out of sorts last season after returning from his suspension, his confidence has been growing with each outing.
In the win against the Wildcats, Doolittle had 14 points and nine rebounds and scored six of OU’s 10 points in overtime.
“It was huge being able to step up for my teammates when my number was called,” Doolittle said. “My coaches have confidence in me to call a play for me and be able to follow through.”
Some of that confidence could be stemming from the simple fact Doolittle is 100 percent after being a little banged up to start the season.
“He’s been more aggressive and played with more attack,” Kruger said. “He’s been that way all week in practice. We need that to continue. He’s healthy now. He had a little bit of an ankle sprain for a while. Now he’s full speed.”
Quotable
“Nope. No. I didn’t ask for advice. I’ve played in hostile environments. I’m used to it.” – Reynolds on if he needed any advice on how to handle the KU crowd.
