Oklahoma landed a 13-0 punch to start the game and a 22-3 haymaker to effectively end it Saturday, but Sooners coach Porter Moser thinks his team beat Arkansas 88-66 by its work in the days leading up to the game in Tulsa.
Oklahoma (8–2) was coming in off a disappointing 66-62 overtime home loss to Butler on Tuesday.
“I thought we were really hungry to get better the last three days,” Moser said. “The way they came into that film session after the Butler game and how we approached practice, it was really how you want your team to do. They really just wanted to get better and I loved the spacing and the non-wasted possessions.
“I think the guys came out from the jump with an edge and it came into the game. Sometimes you can come out with an edge, but you don’t transform it into the game, but I thought our guys did for 40 minutes.”
Moser, a former Arkansas-Little Rock coach who was hired at Oklahoma earlier this year after a successful run at Loyola Chicago, loved the atmosphere inside BOK Center in the first game of a series that could be extended for the next two years.
“It was a tournament-type atmosphere,” Moser said. “Even when our buses pulled up, to see both fan bases out there, you saw cheerleaders and the bands. Just to walk into the arena and see a mixed crowd of both fan bases passionate and yelling for their team, I thought it had an NCAA Tournament feel."
Oklahoma senior center Tanner Groves had 16 points, including three three-pointers. The Sooners made a season-best 13 of 22 shots from beyond the arc.
“That was incredible,” said Groves, a transfer from Eastern Washington. “That was the best college basketball atmosphere that I have ever played in. It was crazy, it was loud. Sooner fans were amazing. It was just so cool, so fun to experience an atmosphere like that. I had never played in anything like that and it just helped me bring way more energy. I was feeding off the crowd’s energy.”
Oklahoma led by 15 points in the first half, but Arkansas (9-1) cut that to 57-54 with 9:55 left when JD Notae hit three free throws.
It was 63-57 with 8:32 remaining, but the Razorbacks missed their next 10 shots and the Sooners scored 13 straight points points to put the game away.
“Over and over we responded, time and time again,” Moser said. “I didn’t think we had a lot of wasted possessions and just knowing how to close out the games, I thought we learned our lesson and did a lot of things better with that.”
Groves admired his team’s grit.
“Coach preaches playing defense for 40 minutes,” he said. “It wasn’t like they made a run and we were able to let them back in. They cut it to a couple of points and we hit back and we hit harder and that’s what it is all about.
“The last eight minutes we were able to just lock in and make the win happen and that’s all the really matters to me.”
Arkansas missed its first eight shots and was 21 of 61 from the field. The Razorbacks were 7 of 24 from three-point range and 17 of 18 from the free throw line.
“I thought it started with our defense,” Moser said. "Obviously making some shots, but executing some things that we wanted to do. I think that was a big part of rebounding. Just a ton of respect for the way they rebound the ball.”
Oklahoma out-rebounded Arkansas 36-29. Elijah Harkless had a double-double with 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Sooners.
“We got out-rebounded the last game against Butler and really had a tough 72 hours talking about what we needed to do to beat Arkansas,” Moser said. "That started with rebounding and I thought we set the tone.
"We just said we needed all hands on deck rebound against a great rebounding team."
Groves said his team showed it can compete with almost anyone.
“That game is just a testament to what we can achieve if we defend for 40 minutes and we are all locked in, if we are all bringing energy, bringing heart," he said. "We are capable of beating top 10 teams, top 25 teams like we did with Florida."