PREVIEW: PC to Take on Oklahoma in “Battle 4 Atlantis” Tournament in Bahamas
Robert McMahon, Sports Columnist
PREVIEW: PC to Take on Oklahoma in “Battle 4 Atlantis” Tournament in Bahamas
Ready or not, the Friars will tip off against Oklahoma on Wednesday night at 5 PM on ESPN2. Depending on the outcome of that game, they will then face either Davidson or Arizona on Thursday.
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So, what can the Friars expect when they face the Sooners? For starters, Oklahoma is now an SEC team. In their last year in the Big 12 in 2023-24 they were 20-12 overall and 8-10 in conference play, good for 9th in the Big 12. The SEC coaches, in a pre-season preview, pegged the Sooners to finish 15th in the 16-team conference. Not a glowing endorsement, but Oklahoma at this point might still be slightly better than the Friars, who are not yet a finished product by any means.
Oklahoma, like PC, experienced significant lineup turnover from the transfer portal. Four of the top five Sooner scorers from last year transferred. Despite the loss of four top players, thus far, through four games, the Sooners have settled into a lineup of two senior returnees from last year’s squad, two senior transfers, and one fabulous freshman.
Oklahoma is led by 6’6” senior returnee forward Jalon Moore who is averaging 18.8 pts and 6.3 rebounds per game. Their other top rebounder is 6’10” senior returnee center Sam Godwin who pulls down 11 boards per game, one of the top ten rebounders in the country. Two transfers, Duke Miles a senior guard who is averaging 12 pts and 3.5 assists, and Kobe Elvis, a senior forward is averaging 11 pts and 5 assists, have taken on starting roles. The starting lineup also features an 18-year-old freshman guard Jeremiah Fears who is a shooting guard clicking with 15.5 points.
It's a well-balanced scoring lineup, so the Friars can’t focus on just Moore or Fears. Moore maybe the toughest Sooner to constrain given the current Friars inexperienced inside guys. Goodwin is not a scoring threat but he’s a mature skilled player who is going to position himself to grab double digit rebounds against PC. The senior transfers Miles and Elvis are more than scorers. They’ll pick PC’s pockets if PC gets sloppy with the ball.
Guess who is also on the Sooners roster? Former Friar Brycen Goodine. Yup. Goodine, rated a top 100 nationally rated high school player in 2019 at St. Andrew’s, started at Syracuse before transferring to PC for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He averaged less than 2 pts and 9 minutes a game for the Friars before transferring to Fairfield. He spent two seasons with Fairfield averaging 14 pts/game last year. He has one more season of eligibility at Oklahoma, scored 11 points in Oklahoma’s first game against Lindenwood, but twisted his ankle, and has not seen action since. Whether he will see action against PC is still up in the air.
I should add that Oklahoma has faced a similar schedule of cupcakes like PC—Northwestern State, Lindenwood, Stetson, and East Texas A&M. So, it is hard to take too much stock in their numbers or PC’s numbers. Though, Oklahoma’s steals and points off turnovers are impressive. This is a team with ballhawks who like to run the ball and score after an opponent’s turnover.
Also impressive is the difference in foul shooting. PC’s shooting at the charity stripe is unbelievably poor—61%. The Sooners have a respectable 76%. The Friars could lose this game at the foul line if they don’t improve their free throw shooting.
The big unknown—will Bryce Hopkins appear for any minutes in this game? Coach English is not letting us know yet. If he does play, I feel confident that PC would run away with this game.
No matter how the Friars do on Wednesday, they will live to play at least one more game against Davidson or Arizona on Thursday. If the Friars beat Oklahoma, you can’t count on them playing Arizona, currently ranked #17 in the country.