The Oklahoma Sooners are unbeaten 11 games into a season for the first time in nearly a decade, and they’ll look to make it a dozen triumphs without a defeat when they host Central Arkansas on Sunday afternoon in Norman, Okla.
The 14th-ranked Sooners (11-0) are off to their best start since the 2015-16 season when they opened 14-0 and last made it to the Final Four. The struggling Bears (3-8) are the second-to-last nonconference opponent Oklahoma will face before the Sooners jump into Southeastern Conference play for the rest of the season starting in January.
One of the keys to the Sooners’ early-season success is one of their youngest players.
Freshman Jeremiah Fears, who is averaging a team-high 17.9 points, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game, continues to make a huge impact at both ends of the floor.
Fears also has proven clutch at the collegiate level against tough competition, as he showed when he secured the Sooners’ most recent win, an 87-86 comeback win over Michigan at the Jumpman Invitational last Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.
He nailed a 3-pointer, drew a foul on the play and hit the subsequent go-ahead free throw with 11 seconds left to help Oklahoma hang onto its unblemished record.
“I felt good just being able to help my team get the W,” Fears said after the game. “A lot of people didn’t believe in us going into the game, and I think that motivated us in the game.”
The Sooners began the season outside the Top 25 and have been on a quest to prove their legitimacy throughout the early part of the season.
Oklahoma cracked the poll after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas during Thanksgiving weekend when it swept its three games against Providence, Arizona and Louisville.
Forward Jalon Moore, who is averaging 17.4 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game, and guard Duke Miles (10.5 points per game) have given the Sooners depth at the offensive end.
Central Arkansas faces its first ranked opponent of the season. The Bears have gone 0-4 so far against Power Four conference opponents and have allowed 82 or more points in all four of those games.
Central Arkansas snapped a four-game skid on Monday with a 73-71 home victory over The Citadel despite not scoring a field goal for the final 4:22 of the game. The Bears clinched the victory thanks to their defense down the stretch, which was critical. The team has struggled on that end when it comes to closing out games most of this season.
Central Arkansas’ top performers have been Layne Taylor, a true freshman guard who is averaging a team-high 17 points per game and had 21 against The Citadel. Senior guard/forward Elias Cato is also averaging 15 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“The money games are great, the big boy games are great. But you get so much more out of this type of game,” Central Arkansas coach John Shulman said after the win over The Citadel.
“For us to have zero confidence after all we’ve been through, and then to come out and do this,” he continued. “Then they make some tough shots, and now we have to figure out a way to win the game at the end. That game was easily one you could lose. And you know what, we didn’t.”
–Field Level Media
