Kentucky basketball is getting ready to take their first-ever trip to Norman, OK to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a late one on Wednesday night, as the game will tipoff at 9 p.m. ET. They are facing a very hungry Oklahoma squad, and a win over Kentucky would do wonders for their NCAA Tournament hopes. Right now, the Sooners are currently in ESPN’s “last four in,” and a win over #17 Kentucky would be exactly what they need to boost their chances to be in on Selection Sunday.
Despite being 17-10 overall and 4-10 in the SEC, the Sooners are coming off of a big win over #24 Mississippi State on their home court. Mark Pope knows it’s going to be a challenge, especially in terms of taking care of the ball and how deadly Oklahoma can be in transition, which is where a respectable chunk of their possessions come from. The Sooners are led by leading scorer, forward Jalon Moore, and reigning SEC Player of the Week, guard Jeremiah Fears.
“It starts in transition. Over 17 percent of their possessions are in transition. They are top 15 percent in the country in terms of efficiency in transition. Interesting enough, Jeremy Fears, who’s slated to be a top 10, top 12 draft pick, freshman, super talented, has a 98 possessions in transition. We actually haven’t played against anybody, any individual player that has one hundred possessions in transition. …and their starting power forward, (number) 14 (Jalon Moore), has 95 possessions in transition, so they have two players that are almost at one hundred possessions in transition. That’s give or take five possessions a game right now, a little bit less than that. That’s a huge number, so guarding them in transition is a big deal. (Jeremiah Fears) is coming off a 28 point, 10 assist game, shooting 60 percent from the three-point line in his most recent game. He’s a terrific talent. They’re really physical inside. They have dynamic guards in the backcourt. …They’ve played in a lot of close games and haven’t quite come out right, but they’ve had some good success (at) home, including a really, really big win for them on Saturday night against Mississippi State.”
Oklahoma has had a tough time in conference, as all of their losses have came during the really tough SEC play. The Sooners got non conference wins over the likes of Arizona and Louisville, and now, head coach Porter Moser may be on the hot seat, so Oklahoma will be very hungry to pull of an upset on Wednesday against the Wildcats.
Kentucky will certainly need to be ready, as the Sooners play significantly better at home (11-4) than they do on the road (1-6).