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Oklahoma’s Big 12 slate will end how it began — with a battle against the Kansas State Wildcats.
The Sooners (16-14 overall, 6-11 in Big 12 play) opened conference play with a 71-69 win over the Wildcats (14-15, 6-11) on Jan. 1, but the teams will look a lot different on Saturday than they did on New Year’s Day.
For Oklahoma, Tanner Groves, Jacob Groves and Bijan Cortes all were ruled out due to health and safety protocols, and the Wildcats were missing their second-leading scorer in Markquis Nowell.
On Saturday, the teams will meet near full strength with plenty on the line.
The winner will clinch the 7-seed in next week’s Big 12 Tournament, avoiding the Wednesday night contest between the eighth and ninth place team. Both teams also need the win to continue an unlikely late push to make it into the NCAA Tournament.
For Oklahoma’s part, the Sooners are riding high heading into the crucial tilt, riding the momentum of a two-game winning streak.
“We knew we needed to win that homestand one at a time,” OU head coach Porter Moser said during a Zoom press conference on Friday. “… Guys see some reward from their preparation, their hard work and we were on a slide.
“… But there's a confident respect that you have. I mean, we understand what's in front of us. Playing in that environment, they're very good at home, very good team. They're playing for the same thing we are, to stay alive.”
To notch the win in Manhattan, the Sooners will have to slow down Kansas State star Nijel Pack.
Pack leads the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 17.7 points per game while shooting an eye-popping 43.7 percent from deep.
In the first meeting, Pack added 17 points, but the Sooners held him to 5-of-15 from the field.
Moser said the team is still very aware of the threat Pack brings, and he’ll draw plenty of attention from the OU defense yet again on Saturday.
“It's one thing to be able to shoot the ball,” said Moser, “but it's another thing to be able to shoot the ball when everybody knows that you can shoot the ball.
“And for him to shoot — everyone goes into these games knowing how good of a 3-point shooter he is and he still with all the top defenses in the Big 12… That is an elite player.”
While the Sooners look to contain Kansas State’s star, Oklahoma has gotten back-to-back great contributions from Tanner Groves.
In OU’s past two wins, Groves has posted a double-double, and Moser said he’s hitting his stride at the right time for the Sooners.
“What I've seen is him embrace physicality in the last several weeks,” Moser said. “I think teams were just coming right at him with a tough, physical nature. I think it was really messing him up.
“… He's embraced it. I've seen him get more two-handed rebounds in traffic than he has in a while.”
The Sooners will need Groves to be great again, as it’s starting to look like OU will have to bank a win against Kansas State and then pull at least one upset in Kansas City to even have a shot of making the Big Dance on Selection Sunday.
Oklahoma’s first step will require the first victory for the program in Manhattan since 2012, when the Sooners topped the Wildcats 63-60. OU has lost nine straight trips to Bramlage Coliseum.
Moser will get a chance to turn around the Sooners’ recent road struggles against the Wildcats at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.
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