Let’s go with this first—this wasn’t a huge upset. OU came into the game with a win over Florida already on their Quad I belt this season. This isn’t the same Arkansas team with Moses Moody who pushed the national champion Baylor Bears in last spring’s Sweet 16. None of that was present in Tulsa today.
If I were going to seed Arkansas in the buzz-saw tough Big 12…I might have had them as No. 4 behind Baylor, Kansas, and Texas. So this wasn’t like OU beating Gonzaga or Duke…but it was a great signature building block win to get this OU team believing they can possibly entertain the notion of being a top four team in the Big 12.
What a great basketball environment today in Tulsa!
This is why I don’t think OU fans will miss Bedlam all that much. Texas will still be Texas and Arkansas will become Bedlam. I’m not sure what we call it yet…but this rivalry will become special in the SEC in both football and basketball.
The question will be who will the O State fans find that they hate more or equally than OU? Who will they find they can dream of beating twice every fifteen years? Who will be that team they live to hate on? Think about that.
I wrote yesterday that OU has never been pristine in football and that’s completely accurate. But what I didn’t write was for me as a college football fan OU was always like the Oakland Raiders. That team with an attitude with the face of Al Davis hanging somewhere in a corner in the Sooner practice facility. I love that team. I’ve missed those teams.
But back to this game. OU never trailed in this basketball game…as in never. They came out and hit Arkansas with a barrage of threes and never looked back. Arkansas never really bothered OU with their full court pressure and we all knew Arkansas would never go into a zone like Butler did… so really this wasn’t that huge of a win. Playing a zone isn’t in Arkansas’s DNA. Kansas State, Butler…yes. Arkansas…no.
What I mean is…this was a nice win, but when the OU players wake up tomorrow morning it’s time to reset the goal standard a bit looking forward.
OU beat Arkansas in every stat on this game sheet… every single stat. OU outshot Arkansas, out rebounded Arkansas, out assisted Arkansas, actually had more steals than these Forty Minutes of Hell wannabees.
OU won every fifty-fifty loose ball. OU was on the floor more than Lindsey Graham at a Donald Trump fund raiser.
OU won the game by twenty-two points because THEY WERE THE BETTER TEAM–PERIOD.
All five OU starters scored in double figures. All five did the little things that I preach about on my blog constantly. Those little Toughness, Smarts, Nasty things which will win you ball games.
Jalen Hill became Jalen Hill again. Tanner Grove played with that bullshit smirk mojo grin of his. Jordan Goldwire played like he had something to prove. Moj Gibson found his three point stroke which wasn’t even in the building in the loss to Butler.
But most of all… EJ Harkless was the best basketball player in the building on Saturday afternoon in Tulsa. EJ was that player. And when you have that player as a coach…I think Coach Moser knows in his heart he could have a sneaky good under the radar type of team on his hands if he can keep them listening to him as far as shot selection in the last five minutes of a game.
If I get into a knife fight…I want EJ on my team. I love EJ Harkless. I love what he stands for as a basketball player. EJ Harkless has the soul of a basketball player.
EJ’s line was 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. He was clearly my No. 1 Star of the Game. No. 2 was Jordan Goldwire and No. 3 was Jalen Hill.
OU improved to 8-2 with the win and now takes a week off to take mid terms.
I hope each OU player goes to sleep tonight dreaming of what they can become if they play forty minutes the right way every game.
BOOMER!
The below video is what happens to you when you realize your team just got out-Toughed, out-Smarted, and out-Nastied. This ejection had nothing to do with a foul not being called. The fouls and foul shots taken in this game were virtually identical. This was about Eric Musselman trying to show his team what he thought of their effort on Saturday in Tulsa. It’s all about toughness, or therein the lack of. This was Coach Musselman coaching for the next Arkansas game.
You ever think you’re going to see this from Sam Hinkie-Presti’s puppet tanking coach who he pays way below industry scale pay to lose games on purpose? Not a chance. Coach Tank may feign anger here and there, but it’s faux anger. Like the games itself…not real.