The stage is set for one magical night at the Lloyd Noble Center for OU basketball. All the pieces have come into place to honor Buddy Hield and the 2015-16 Final Four team.
It’s all right there, except for the final piece. After Hield’s No. 24 jersey is retired, there is a game for the Sooners to win.
A big one.
It won’t be easy, but it’s also as must-win as it gets for the Sooners from this point forward. The Quad 1 & 2 opportunities are there, time to make the most of them.
Texas A&M (18-8, 8-5) at OU (13-13, 3-10)
When: 7:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
“I think it’s best for us to try to stay locked in as well, because I know for him, at most, we want to get him the victory,” guard Nijel Pack told SoonerScoop. “We know it’s gonna be a special night for him. We want to pay him an honor with a win that night as well.
“So it’s gonna be amazing to see. It’s gonna be a lot of support out there. It’s gonna be great. I’m excited to see it. I’m excited to see the turnout for the fans, and I’m excited to see how well we play tomorrow as well, too.”
There was a surprise Wednesday night in the OU loss. After multiple DNPs, freshman center Kai Rogers earned 14 minutes.
He didn’t score but had a couple of blocks. It’s that constant battle of staying ready at all times so you can produce when your number is called.
“There were some things he did really well. So just trying to keep him — we need to get him a lot of reps, so a lot of times he’s on the scout team,” head coach Porter Moser told SoonerScoop. “Thought he had a good week. We knew with Tennessee we might go two bigs. Like any player, when you’re not playing, keeping them engaged and on the scout, even when you’re running the scout, is always a challenge. But I think Kai’s been trying to stay ready… I’m hoping to find him minutes down the stretch.”
OU played well in College Station. A battle for most of the game, the Sooners ran out of steam in the final minutes.
It ended up being an 83-76 loss, but OU was able to get it down to 79-76 with less than two minutes to go.
A lot to learn from, a lot to improve upon.
“The fatigue part of it, of having to play with that pace and transition D. I think a strength is playing with that pace against them, but they press you the whole time,” Moser said. “Mentally and physically, you’ve got to be ready at all times to get pressed and trapped the whole game. So you learn, it’s unique. They’re very effective at it, and you’ve got to condition yourself mentally and physically to play that like that the whole game. And they just play so fast offensively; they’re pushing it to the battle line in like three seconds.
“Agee is like an MVP candidate. That’s how highly I think of him and what he does. He orchestrates through a five-out offense. He’s an inside post threat, duck in threat, post up threat. He’s an elite passer. You can switch any position defensively. I think he’s an MVP type of candidate and that’s how highly I think Agee affects that team.”
