2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team


The 2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by 10th-year head coach Lon Kruger and played their home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma, as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 16–11, 9–8 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament, they defeated Iowa State before losing to Kansas in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the West region. There they defeated Missouri in the First Round before losing to Gonzaga in the Second Round.

2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceBig 12 Conference
Record16–11 (9–8 Big 12)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaLloyd Noble Center
Seasons
2020–21 Big 12 men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Baylor 13 1   .929 28 2   .933
No. 16 Kansas 12 6   .667 21 9   .700
No. 21 Texas 11 6   .647 19 8   .704
No. 18 West Virginia 11 6   .647 19 10   .655
No. 19 Oklahoma State 11 7   .611 21 9   .700
No. 22 Texas Tech 9 8   .529 18 11   .621
Oklahoma 9 8   .529 16 11   .593
TCU 5 11   .313 12 14   .462
Kansas State 4 14   .222 9 20   .310
Iowa State 0 18   .000 2 22   .083
2021 Big 12 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

On March 25, 2021, head coach Lon Kruger retired as head coach after 10 years at Oklahoma and 45 years of coaching.[1] On April 3, the school named Loyola coach Porter Moser the new head coach.[2]

Previous season

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The Sooners finished the 2019–20 season with an overall record of 19–11, 9–9 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for third place. All postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Corbin Merritt 2 C 6'9" 245 RS Sophomore Tallahassee, FL Transferred to Austin Peay
Kristian Doolittle 21 F 6'7" 232 Senior Edmond, OK Graduated
Jamal Bieniemy 24 G 6'5" 187 Sophomore Katy, TX Transferred to UTEP

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Umoja Gibson 2 G 6'1" 176 Junior Waco, TX Transferred from

North Texas.

Elijah Harkless 24 G 6'3" 195 Junior Rialto, CA Transferred from Cal State Northridge.

2020 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Trey Phipps
PG / SG
Tulsa, OK Booker T. Washington 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Aug 1, 2019 
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: N/A
Josh O'Garro
SF
George Town, Cayman Islands Santa Clarita Christian School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Aug 6, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

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2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Victor Iwuakor 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 223 lb (101 kg) So Sulphur Springs Abuja, Nigeria
F 1 Jalen Hill 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Clark Las Vegas, NV
G 2 Umoja Gibson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Jr North Texas Waco, TX
G 3 Trey Phipps 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr Booker T. Washington Tulsa, OK
G 11 De'Vion Harmon 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 198 lb (90 kg) So John Guyer Denton, TX
G 12 Austin Reaves 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 206 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Wichita State Newark, AR
F 13 Anyang Garang 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Fr NBA Global Academy Adelaide, Australia
G 15 Alondes Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Sr Triton College Milwaukee, WI
C 20 Rick Issanza 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Fr Bella Vista Prep Kinshasa, Congo
G 21 Josh O'Garro 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Santa Clarita Christian School George Town, Cayman Islands
G 24 Elijah Harkless 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Cal State Northridge San Bernardino, CA
F 32 Read Streller (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Sr Oklahoma Christian School Edmond, OK
F 35 Brady Manek 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 231 lb (105 kg) Sr Harrah Harrah, OK
G 44 Blake Seacat (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) So Jenks Jenks, OK
G 45 Keller Casey (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 212 lb (96 kg) So Episcopal School of Dallas Dallas, TX
F 52 Kur Kuath 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Salt Lake CC Biemnon, South Sudan
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
December 3, 2020*
7:00 pm, FSOK
UTSA W 105–66  1–0
Lloyd Noble Center (2,201)
Norman, OK
December 6, 2020
3:00 pm, ESPN2
at TCU W 82–78  2–0
(1–0)
Schollmaier Arena (1,747)
Fort Worth, TX
December 9, 2020*
7:00 pm, FS1
at Xavier
Big East/Big 12 Battle
L 77–99  2–1
Cintas Center (300)
Cincinnati, OH
December 12, 2020*
4:00 pm, FSOK
Florida A&M W 85–54  3–1
Lloyd Noble Center (1,909)
Norman, OK
December 16, 2020*
7:00 pm, FSOK
Oral Roberts W 79–65  4–1
Lloyd Noble Center (2,000)
Norman, OK
December 19, 2020*
4:00 pm, FSOK
Houston Baptist W 84–65  5–1
Lloyd Noble Center (611)
Norman, OK
December 22, 2020
6:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 15 Texas Tech L 67–69  5–2
(1–1)
Lloyd Noble Center (1,328)
Norman, OK
January 2, 2021
3:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 9 West Virginia W 75–71  6–2
(2–1)
Lloyd Noble Center (2,431)
Norman, OK
January 6, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN2
at No. 2 Baylor L 61–76  6–3
(2–2)
Ferrell Center (2,350)
Waco, TX
January 9, 2021
3:30 pm, CBS
at No. 6 Kansas L 59–63  6–4
(2–3)
Allen Fieldhouse (2,500)
Lawrence, KS
January 12, 2021
6:30 pm, ESPN+
TCU W 82–46  7–4
(3–3)
Lloyd Noble Center (1,921)
Norman, OK
January 16, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN2
at Oklahoma State
Bedlam
Postponed Gallagher-Iba Arena 
Stillwater, OK
January 19, 2021
5:30 pm, FSOK
at Kansas State W 76–50  8–4
(4–3)
Lloyd Noble Center (1,934)
Norman, OK
January 23, 2021
11:00 am, ESPN
No. 9 Kansas W 75–68  9–4
(5–3)
Lloyd Noble Center (2,669)
Norman, OK
January 26, 2021
6:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 24 at No. 5 Texas W 80–79  10–4
(6–3)
Frank Erwin Center (0)
Austin, TX
January 30, 2021*
11:00 am, ESPN
No. 24 No. 9 Alabama
Big 12/SEC Challenge
W 66–61  11–4
Lloyd Noble Center (2,680)
Norman, OK
February 1, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN
No. 9 at No. 13 Texas Tech L 52–57  11–5
(6–4)
United Supermarkets Arena (4,250)
Lubbock, TX
February 6, 2021
11:00 am, ESPN2
No. 9 Iowa State W 79–72  12–5
(7–4)
Lloyd Noble Center (2,734)
Norman, OK
February 10, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 12 No. 2 Baylor Postponed Lloyd Noble Center 
Norman, OK
February 13, 2021
12:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 12 at No. 14 West Virginia W 91–90 2OT 13–5
(8–4)
WVU Coliseum (2,800)
Morgantown, WV
February 18, 2021
 TBD
No. 9 No. 12 Texas Postponed Lloyd Noble Center 
Norman, OK
February 20, 2021
5:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 9 at Iowa State W 66–56  14–5
(9–4)
Hilton Coliseum (1,281)
Ames, IA
February 23, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 7 at Kansas State L 57–62  14–6
(9–5)
Bramlage Coliseum (896)
Manhattan, KS
February 27, 2021
2:00 pm, ABC
No. 7 Oklahoma State
Bedlam
L 90–94 OT 14–7
(9–6)
Lloyd Noble Center (2,929)
Norman, OK
March 1, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN
No. 16 at No. 17 Oklahoma State
Bedlam
L 75–79  14–8
(9–7)
Gallagher-Iba Arena (3,350)
Stillwater, OK
March 4, 2021
8:00 pm, ESPN
No. 16 No. 15 Texas L 65–69  14–9
(9–8)
Lloyd Noble Center (2,952)
Norman, OK
Big 12 Tournament
March 10, 2021
8:30 pm, ESPN
(7) No. 25 vs. (10) Iowa State
First Round
W 79–73  15–9
Sprint Center (0)
Kansas City, MO
March 11, 2021
5:30 pm, ESPN
(7) No. 25 vs. (2) No. 11 Kansas
Quarterfinals
L 62–69  15–10
Sprint Center (3,510)
Kansas City, MO
NCAA tournament
March 20, 2021*
6:25 pm, TNT
(8 W) vs. (9 W) Missouri
First Round
W 72–68  16–10
Lucas Oil Stadium 
Indianapolis, IN
March 22, 2021*
1:40 pm, CBS
(8 W) vs. (1 W) No. 1 Gonzaga
Second Round
L 71–87  16–11
Hinkle Fieldhouse 
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Source[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Oklahoma's Kruger retires after 45-year career". ESPN.com. March 25, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  2. ^ "Oklahoma hires Loyola Chicago's Porter Moser to replace Lon Kruger as Sooners coach". CBSSports.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  3. ^ "Men's Basketball - Schedule - The Official Site of Oklahoma Sooner Sports". www.soonersports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2019.