NORMAN — Things didn’t start very well on Monday for the new-look Sooners. The Sooners struggled to begin the game and found themselves trailing Central Michigan 12-10 at the 13:31 mark of the first half.

But that’s when they responded. A Milos Uzan layup and back-to-back 3-pointers from new additions Le’Tre Darthard and Rivaldo Soares sparked a 13-0 run over the next three minutes.

“The beginning I wasn't pleased,” OU coach Porter Moser said after the game. “They hit a couple of shots and then they got their offensive rebounds. We couldn’t get any transition going early. The first five or six minutes. We didn’t get any stops.

“All of sudden I’m bringing in Le’Tre Darthard. Soares. Older guys. John Hugley. ​​So we were able to have another wave. I think we got 11 stops in a row. Maybe it was 12. And I think we were getting out in transition. And that whole run, that’s what we want to do is have defense create offense.”

That run put the whole game out of reach, and CMU never threatened again as the Sooners rolled to an 89-59 win in their season opener at Lloyd Noble Center.

Here’s a few other takeaways from the win:

The Siena transfer wasted no time establishing himself in the Sooners' offense.

McCollum found a rhythm in the opening 20 minutes, leading the team with seven points at halftime. But later in the second half is when he really got going.

His best sequence came with seven minutes to go after CMU cut the OU lead to 14. He answered with a step-back 3-pointer, made a layup on the next possession, then found Otega Oweh for a wide-open dunk on a full-court pass. All of that pushed the OU lead back to 19.

McCollum finished with a game-high 19 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting to go with two rebounds, an assist and a block.

"Man it felt great. The crowd was welcoming. The floor is amazing. The hoops are amazing. I felt great out there and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.

"I saw just a confidence and a vocalness," Moser added. "I thought he was really vocal and he was constantly in communication with me. Against the press, he wanted the ball, took control. Obviously he knocked down some shots and then he tookit to the rack on that. He gives us speed. I've been saying that and you've seen the speed. But he also has shooting. You know, he gives us speed and shooting and I just think that's something that really adds to our team."

From the opening tip, it was clear the Sooners are looking to play faster on both ends. They regularly ran a full-court press and pressured CMU into 17 turnovers, which the Sooners turned into 20 points.

The Sooners were also aggressive attacking the rim. They took 30 free throws as a team, which is more than they attempted in any game last season. New addition Jalon Moore led in that regard, making 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

The only thing that limited the Sooners was rebounding. CMU grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to OU's five.

"I think you gotta get stops," Moser said. "We're pushing it, we're trying, but you gotta get stops and you gotta rebound. It's hard to push as much as we wanted with 14 offensive rebounds. With that said, we scored 89 points. I thought we got to the foul line fast because I thought we were aggressive. I thought we were aggressive, going downhill, pushing in transition. You can't run unless you get stops and rebound. You gotta defend the rebound top run. And hopefully the guys will look at that first six minutes and see that. We really didn't get out and run in the first five or six minutes because of not getting stops."

The true sophomore earned a starting role last season with his defense and speed, but his offensive game needed improvement.

Against CMU he showed that improvement, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He also made his only 3-pointer and added eight rebounds.

His growth on offense was a key point of emphasis during the offseason.

"Obviously my teammates, they do a good job when we’re running plays," Oweh said. "And once they see a little advantage and stuff, they do a good job of finding whoever’s open. So it was a little bit of both, just being aggressive and making the right reads and stuff.