NORMAN — OU men’s basketball knows it let one get away last time out against Texas A&M.
“We’ve got to get that one back,” senior forward Jalon Moore told the Sooners’ in-house radio on Saturday.
Despite Brycen Goodine‘s 34 points and OUa’s 18-point lead at home, the Aggies stormed back and won without its star guard Wade Taylor IV on Jan. 8. Turnovers were the story as OU committed 18, which is tied for its season-high, and Texas A&M scored 30 points off those.
“(Coach Buzz Williams’) teams, and we saw firsthand, his culture of how physical they played,” Moser said Monday. “They forced us into 18 turnovers and had 30 points off turnovers. I mean, that was the whole thing.”
Now the Sooners have to go on the road for the second consecutive game to face an Aggies squad hungry after blowing a 22-point lead to Texas on Saturday. Taylor is also healthy and averaging nearly 15 points per game.
OU is fresh off a gritty road win over Arkansas, which, like the Aggies, uses its physicality to win games.
“(Texas A&M was) physical with you,” Moser said.”They do just a really good job at it. They rotate, they scramble, they play so hard and then they rebound. They get a lot more shot attempts than you because they’re creating it themselves on the offensive glass, they’re turning you over and that’s less shots you can get on rim.”
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OU has proved it can rebound against quality SEC teams but the turnovers have continued to be an issue. The Sooners surrendered 18 in a home loss to the Longhorns and 13 against the Razorbacks.
However, following a bit of a rough stretch to start conference play, true freshman guard and OU’s primary ball handler, Jeremiah Fears, has settled in the past few games offensively and cut down his turnovers.
Fears led the Sooners on Saturday with 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting and just two turnovers. Against the Aggies on Jan. 8, he scored 13 points with four turnovers.
“The physicality for Jeremiah, just watching him, to see these last five or six halves, he’s getting back to where he was at the start of the season,” Moser said. “Now, I look at him, he’s a lot more physical and confident with the ball.”
Guard play will be critical, Moser says. He described the Aggies’ guards as Big Hat, No Cattle.
“Their guards are grown men,” Moser said. “They play that way. Sometimes, you hear me talking about one of the strengths I see is in Jalen Moore is he gets his athleticism into the game. Well, they look physical, and they get the physicality in the game.”
Oklahoma’s upcoming stretch will be critical for its NCAA Tournament hopes. Each of OU’s next five opponents is ranked in this week’s AP poll.
The Sooners knew they let a quality win slip away against Texas A&M and are aiming to pick up their second consecutive road Quad 1 win in a revenge game with the Aggies at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Squarely on the bubble, Moser’s team is well aware of what went wrong last time.
“If you had told me before the game we’re going to have 30 points on turnovers, I would have said we would lose by 15,” Moser said of OU’s last game against Texas A&M. “We did a lot of good things. We had 21 assists, but we’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve got to rebound against them.”
More: OU basketball survives Arkansas on road as Sooners win second straight SEC game
OU vs. Texas A&M
TIPOFF: 8 p.m. Tuesday at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas (SEC Network)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU basketball aiming to move past collapse vs. Texas A&M with road win
