Tanner Groves Powers Oklahoma Past Indiana State

To pick up their second win in as many days, the Sooners had to show they could win in two very different manners.

On Thursday night, OU survived an East Carolina team that created size mismatches all over the floor, making life hard by closing down passing lanes with their length.

Friday afternoon, Oklahoma had to contain an Indiana State team that wanted to get out and play free-flowing offense in transition, which the Sooners shut down with blanketing defense.

OU forced 16 turnovers, turning the Sycamore mistakes into 17 points on the other end of the floor.

Tanner Groves might have been the happiest player to move on from the East Carolina game. Battling the Indiana State bigs, it was Groves this time who made the best of his own size advantage, leading the Sooners with a season-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. The Sooner big also added eight rebounds and three assists in the win.

Jordan Goldwire finished OU’s second-leading scorer behind Groves, as the Duke transfer put in a career-best day offensively. Tying his previous career-high, Goldwire added 14 points while also doling out two assists.

Just four games into the young season, Friday’s performance was a big step in the right direction of how Porter Moser wants his defense to lead directly to offense.

At times this season, OU’s defense has been excellent, but it hasn’t always translated to big scoring runs for the Sooners.

On Friday, a pair of nice runs helped Oklahoma extend the lead at key moments in the game.

In the first half, the Sooners erased an early deficit with a 10-0 run that took up just 1:45 of game time to put Moser’s team in front.

They wouldn’t surrender the lead again, but Indiana State had a nice start to the second half, cutting the deficit to three points before the massive Sooner run.

OU turned the Sycamores over five times over the course of their 18-2 run, shattering Indiana State’s confidence and taking full control of the proceedings in Myrtle Beach.

Umoja Gibson and Tanner Groves also had nice nights offensively for the Sooners, adding 11 points each to round out a balanced scoring attack.

The victory means the Sooners will advance to the Myrtle Beach Invitational Chamionshi on Sunday, where they will face the Utah State Aggies.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Aggies is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday.