3 takeaways from Oklahoma’s win over Central Arkansas: Groves brothers thrive in victory

Oklahoma (8-3) defeated Central Arkansas (5-6) 87-66 on Saturday inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The win improves the Sooners to 5-1 at home on the season.

The Sooners shot 69% from the field in the first half and got out to a 22-point lead. Oklahoma’s 52 first-half points is the most in a half on the season.

The Sooners entered the game leading the conference in 3-point percentage at 38.9% and bettered that number Saturday, making nine of their 18 shots from beyond the arc.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win over Central Arkansas.

Distributing at a high-level

Oklahoma consistently gave teammates chances to score, assisting 21 of the team’s 34 made shots from the field. The tally was well over their average of 14.1 a game.

In Milos Uzan’s first two starts, he has averaged 13 points and five assists per game and connected on 12 of his 17 shots. Although he did not score, his ability to create opportunities for other players was on full display with a season-high nine assists to just two turnovers.

One of the highlighted unselfish plays was a steal from freshman Otega Oweh. While guard Grant Sherfield could have beat his opponent down the floor when he got the ball, he decided to reward the freshman for poking the ball free and giving him an in-transition pass for a dunk.

Oweh collected critical second half minutes and filled the stat sheet with 10 points and made all five of his shot attempts, to go with three steals on defense.

The Sooners’ ball movement highlighted a team effort on offense with a tick over a 2:1 turnover ratio. Something they can build upon as the competition upcoming increases in difficulty.

Groves brothers thrive

Over the course of the season, multiple games have seen the Sooners rely on guard Grant Sherfield to supply the offensive output.

He has gotten more than comfortable in Norman, with three straight 20-point performances coming into Saturday’s game.

It was more than Sherfield on Saturday.

On the season, just Sherfield averages 11 points per game or more, but it was Jacob Groves that set the tone against Central Arkansas.

Through a half, he led the way, collecting 19 points. He matched his season average of eight, by the first media timeout and throughout the game, helped others get involved as he also dished out three assists.

His brother, Tanner, helped Jacob, specifically in the second half. The brothers combined for 40 points as Jacob had a career-high 26 while Tanner finished with 14.

The Sooners had six players scoring eight or more points, and seeing a player outside of Sherfield finding sustained offensive success shows promise moving forward.

Sooners defend high-volume Bears well

What has been more impressive than the near 40% 3-point stroke is how the Sooners have defended the deep ball.

Just three teams in the country give up fewer 3-pointers made than Oklahoma and opposing teams shoot just 27% from beyond the arc.

Central Arkansas felt that. A crew that shoots the ball from that area at will, averaging 26 3-point attempts per game. It took till their ninth 3-point attempt Saturday to connect on one.

In the first half, the Bears made four of their 17 tries and season-leading scorer Camren Hunter with one made.

The Bears found more success in the second half, knocking down seven of their 17 attempts, but not nearly enough to get back into the game.

Oklahoma came in as 23-point favorites and took care of business as they prepared for a much more difficult challenge in a few days.

The Sooners return to the court at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday against Florida in the Jumpman Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Twitter: @A_Tineo4

Related:3 takeaways from Oklahoma’s loss to No. 9 Arkansas: Sooners’ hot shooting fizzles out

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