Jalen Hill’s scoring output jumped off the page in Oklahoma’s season-opening win over Northwestern State.
Hill hadn’t scored more than 11 points in a game in two seasons with the Sooners, but scored 15 in the 77-59 victory.
But heading into Friday’s second game of the season, at home against Texas-San Antonio, Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said he’s pointing out the rest of Hill’s stat line – eight rebounds, three assists, three steals – to the rest of his players.
All of those categories were also career highs for Hill.
“When you’re not shooting well, and he actually shot the ball really well, you’ve got to find other ways and that was a good lesson for a couple of the other guys,” Moser said. “If your shot’s not falling, what else of value are you going to bring to the table?”
Moser also singled out Duke transfer Jordan Goldwire’s performance in the opener. Goldwire had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting with four assists and no turnovers after leading the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio last season.
“There’s a lot of teaching moments, there’s a lot of room (for growth), there’s a lot of newness going on,” Moser said.
The Roadrunners are coming into Friday’s game off a 97-66 home victory over Division III Trinity.
With UTSA replacing not only its top two scorers from last season – Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace – but the top two scorers in program history, the Roadrunners’ newcomers are going to have to pick up a great deal of slack.
In the opener, guard Dhieu Deing had 13 points in his UTSA debut.
“I definitely had a big role to fill, and that’s why I came here,” Deing said. “I’m definitely ready to take on the challenge.”
The Roadrunners and Sooners have played each of the last four seasons, with Oklahoma winning all six of the all-time meetings between the programs.
This trip will be a bit different for UTSA coach Steve Henson, though.
Henson was a Sooners assistant under Lon Kruger for five seasons before leaving to take the Roadrunners’ job after Oklahoma’s 2016 Final Four run.
–Field Level Media
