Two teams looking to add to their NCAA Tournament resumes meet when No. 24 Vanderbilt visits Oklahoma for a Saturday afternoon Southeastern Conference clash in Norman, Okla.
Both squads play exciting brands of basketball and can get points from all over the floor.
The Commodores (16-4, 4-3 SEC) have four players averaging double-digit scoring: Jason Edwards (17.3), Devin McGlockton (10.9), AJ Hoggard (10.8) and Tyler Nickel (10.6).
The Sooners (15-5, 2-5) have three in Jalon Moore (18.2), Jeremiah Fears (15.9) and Duke Miles (10.6).
Edwards, Vanderbilt’s most dangerous player to defend, has hit double figures in all but one game, coming when he clearly wasn’t healthy in a Jan. 7 loss to Mississippi State. The cat-quick junior guard is equally adept at driving the lane for points or hitting 3-pointers (39.2 percent).
The Sooners have an alpha dog of their own in Fears, an NBA prospect who was held scoreless in 19 foul-plagued minutes in Tuesday’s 75-68 loss at No. 13 Texas A&M. Fears had scored 16, 16 and 20 points in his previous three games following a two-point effort on Jan. 11 at Georgia, which marked the first time he hadn’t scored in double figures.
Oklahoma coach Porter Moser spoke to the need for more scoring consistency after the loss to the Aggies, when Brycen Goodine scored 24 points and Moore added 22. No one else had more than five.
“Jalon and Brycen obviously (played well), but we needed some more scoring contributions from some guys,” Moser said.
As for Vanderbilt, Hoggard and McGlockton have been more steady than spectacular. Nickel, on the other hand, has recently flashed signs of being a go-to scorer, averaging 14.7 points over the last three games while hitting 12 of 22 shots from 3-point range.
The Commodores will play their first game as a ranked team since 2015. Vanderbilt should be fresh and healthy for this one after last playing a week ago in a 74-69 upset of then-No. 9 Kentucky, its second victory in eight days over a top-10 team (then-No. 6 Tennessee on Jan. 18).
Vanderbilt, which counts seven juniors or seniors in its nine-man rotation, showed its maturity in that game. The Commodores survived blowing a 13-point halftime lead to make multiple winning plays in the final minutes.
“Momentum was huge,” coach Mark Byington said. “Their fans are going crazy. Their guys were playing good basketball. And to be able to stop that, and to be able to figure out a way, it’s a lot of character. It really is.”
When Vanderbilt wins, it often relies on defense to create easy buckets in transition. It ranks 14th in the country at forcing turnovers on 22.4 percent of possessions, according to Ken Pomeroy. The Sooners cough it up 17.4 percent of the time (177th).
Oklahoma wins when it shoots well. The Sooners rank 40th in 3-point percentage (37.2) and 30th in 2-point percentage (56.6).
This marks the first time the teams have met with Oklahoma as part of the SEC.
–Field Level Media
