No. 9-seed Missouri’s first-round opponent, Oklahoma, is similar to the Tigers in one important way.
The No. 8-seed Sooners put together an incredible January, defeating four top-10 opponents including three in as many games, but they faded down the stretch.
Stylistically, though, Oklahoma and Missouri don’t look much alike. The Sooners’ offense runs through one player, they play almost exclusively a four-guard lineup and they gladly sacrifice an interior presence on offense and defense for more outside shooting threats.
For an in-depth look at the Sooners, who face Missouri on Saturday, March 20, at 6:25 p.m. on TNT, The Maneater spoke to Austin Curtright, OU Daily senior sports reporter and men’s basketball beat writer.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
The Maneater: Describe Oklahoma’s style of play, both offensively and defensively.
Austin Curtright: Offensively, something that [Oklahoma coach Lon] Kruger’s really turned toward this season is the four-guard lineup. That’s really what started the month back in January with the four top-10 wins. He’s talked multiple times about shying away from playing OU’s two forwards on the court at the same time. He said he’ll never do it. And along with that on the defensive side of the ball, he really likes the four guards because he thinks that they’re much more active defensively.
The entire offense is going to run through Austin Reaves. He plays point guard, leads the team in points, rebounds, assists. That there is probably the most important thing for their offense. They’re not going to turn the ball over very much, although they’ve kind of struggled with that the past few games. That’s one of the big things. They’re going to try to space the floor on offense. Brady Manek, as the big, he’s more of a spot-up shooter. Not really going to beat you down low. So basically, at all times, OU’s gonna have four pretty lethal shooters on the outside.
TM: What was OU doing well when they beat four teams who were Top-10 at the time in January, including three in a row?
AC: They were playing much better defense and causing a lot of turnovers. A lot of that is due to the play of Elijah Harkless, who’s pretty much been the X-factor this season for them. He transferred from Cal State Northridge, a zero-star guy who Kruger picked up. He was third in the Big-12 in steals. He and Umoja Gibson, a North Texas transfer have really changed this team, and that’s sort of what sparked those four top-10 wins.
It was Gibson with 29 points and eight threes against West Virginia the first time, and then later on it was OU beating Alabama without Reaves and another starter, Alondes Williams, behind sophomore guard De’Vion Harmon’s 22 points. He’s had a really big year, top-50 recruit. He’s a guy that shot like 37% from the field last season, only averaged like seven points per game. He’s up to 12.9 per game, shooting like 47%. He’s been one of the most improved players in the Big 12, for sure.
TM: Much like Missouri, OU struggled down the stretch after an incredible middle part of the season. What are some of the biggest reasons why they struggled?
AC: OU has really struggled down the stretch, in the clutch moments. For example, they lost by four twice to Oklahoma State, and then lost by four to Texas again, lost by five to Kansas State. It’s really a matter of the ball tips one way, one bucket goes in, and OU is a play away from winning those games.
Kruger said before, he thinks this team is four or five plays away from being a two seed, being a three seed. That’s been their biggest problem. For example, last week against Kansas, Reaves took eight of the last nine shots, made two of them and missed two free throws. He missed six of his eight shots and committed two turnovers against Oklahoma State a few weeks ago. I believe it was within one or two points, Reaves drove down the court and committed a turnover. So the biggest thing for them is just playing a complete game and closing it out down the stretch. Against Kansas, second half, OU shot over 56% from the field, scored 47 points in the second half but what killed them in that game was only scoring 15 points in the first half, the lowest it’s had all season, and committing 13 first-half turnovers. Similar to Missouri, OU needs to play more of a complete game and more importantly, figure it out down the stretch.
TM: Reaves leads OU in points, rebounds and assists so he’s probably pretty good. What makes him the player that he is?
AC: It’s actually kind of interesting. Reaves transferred from Wichita State after his sophomore year. At Wichita State, he was a wing, more of a spot-up shooter guy. He shot over 45% both seasons at Wichita State. He was just pretty much a spot-up shooter, a catch-and-shoot guy. He came to Oklahoma, instantly was a starter but unlike what he was at Wichita State, he became more of a facilitator, more of a playmaker.
He’s actually shooting under 28% or so from the 3-point line this season. But really what makes Reaves good is this season, they actually transitioned him from playing off-ball to the point guard. He’s been really solid at being able to facilitate the offense, but one of the biggest things that Kruger does offensively is he’s a mastermind at creating the mismatch with screens, pick-and-rolls and motioning the offense and spreading it out on the floor. He does a really good job of getting Reaves switched onto bigger forwards, guys that he can beat to the basket.
But perhaps the best part of Reaves’ game is getting to the foul line. He leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage. He’s attempted the most free throws and made the most free throws in the conference this season. So it’s not very often Reaves is not at the free throw line. That’s something he’s trying to get pretty frequently.
TM: OU’s strength is obviously not rebounding; they’re ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding margin. How can they compensate for that, or do you think it’s going to be a fatal flaw in the tournament?
AC: I don’t think it’s necessarily a fatal flaw. Harkless and Reaves have been pretty decent at rebounding. They’re two bigger guards, six-foot-four and six-foot-five. But I think OU is completely dependent on its guard play. I talked about Gibson earlier — he scored 29 points in that big win over West Virginia but then it will turn around and he’ll shoot one for six from three with three points like he did against Iowa State last week. It’s really consistency there. Reaves is gonna be pretty consistent. Harmon is gonna be pretty consistent. They’re pretty much going to score in double-digits every game. But if they can get good production from Harkless, Gibson and then if Manek can provide some value down low against Missouri’s bigger guards then I think they’re a tough team to beat.
Obviously for OU and Missouri, getting the draw it did with Gonzaga in the next round is not ideal, but otherwise, like I said earlier, OU was a few plays away from being a two or three seed, just like they were projected a few short weeks ago. Prior to that, I thought they were a Sweet 16 team based purely on that guard play.
TM: Who are a couple players on OU whose impact won’t show up on the statsheet?
AC: That’s gonna go to Harkless. Against Iowa State, he had an absurd statline. It was 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals with two blocks. He does pretty much everything on the court. He’s not a scorer, however, he basically is going to give you everything but points. Harkless is a guy that’s put up double-digit points this season but it’s in hustle aspects like put-back layups, drives to the rim in transition, stuff like that. Another guy that can go to is Jalen Hill. He’s had inconsistent play, inconsistent minutes off the bench for OU this season, but he can guard one through four. Kruger hasn’t shied away from saying he’s always in the right spot, he has great instincts.
I’ll do another, this guy is actually more important than Jalen Hill, but OU’s other forward that they consistently play is Kur Kuath. He’s a six-foot-10 forward. He’s really just a defensive role player. He comes off the bench and he blocks a lot of shots. I’m pretty sure he’s second in the Big 12 in blocks per game. His play has been inconsistent lately with Manek taking most of the time, but OU only plays two pure forwards, so to say. Jalen Hill would be that third option, but he’s six-foot-seven so a little undersized.
TM: Looking at Missouri’s roster, what’s a matchup that OU can exploit?
AC: With Missouri having two forwards, they might have that advantage with the height advantage there, but what Oklahoma tries to do is spreading the ball on offense and creating mismatches with its guards. It could be a pretty big problem with switches onto guards getting guarded by Missouri’s bigger forwards on offense.
Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com
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