For Sooners, even in the imagination, it's finally basketball season
Both Porter Moser's men and Jennie Baranczyk's women offer interesting stories as conference play approaches
The Oklahoma men turned back Central Arkansas 87-66 on Saturday, moving to 8-3 on the season.
Coach Porter Moser’s Sooners mostly looked like themselves, getting off 55 shots, five more than their average 50 per game, which places them among the 5 to 10 least-shooting programs in the nation.
The difference?
They shot the lights out, hitting 9 of 18 3-point attempts and, whoa, 35 of 55 from everywhere, a 63.6 percent clip.
Sunday, it’s the Sooner women’s turn, also at Lloyd Noble Center, to play a similarly scheduled victory when they tip off against Southern and, barring a debacle on par with Chaminade-Virginia, circa 1982, they'll emerge lopsided victors, pushing their record to 9-1, the only loss — by 46 points, 124-78, how’d that happen? — at No. 13 and still unbeaten Utah.
They are the last games of the silly season; the last of the contests designed to inch you toward 20 wins, provided conference play goes well enough; the last of the free rides.
Because next for both is against the same school, at the same event, in the same location, a day apart.
The Sooner men meet Florida (7-4) at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, while the women meet the Gators (10-1) in the same venue at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Both should win.
The Florida men have been knocked around, one of their losses a 29-point decision to unranked West Virginia.
The Florida women have a gaudy tally but continue to receive no votes in the AP or coaches’ top 25s and reign only 79th in the NCAA’s own NET Rankings.
Coach Jennie Baranczyk’s Sooners rank 24th in the AP poll, 20th in the coaches’ and, oddly, just 54th in the NET, but that’s still quite a bit higher than 79th.
Of course, the Big 12 could be bananas for both. Each could have their season made or broken quickly.
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