NORMAN — Porter Moser took it all in at McCasland Field House — the ambiance, the history within its walls — as he attended a women’s volleyball game in the storied building during his first year as Oklahoma’s head coach.
He looked to the rafters and saw names like Alvan Adams (the “Oklahoma Kid”) and Gar Heard, and he tried to envision what it was like to sit in those old stands for a classic Sooners basketball game back in the day. He could picture the atmosphere, the excitement and feeling of taking in a game in such a quaint-yet-historic building, and he knew then that one day he’d like to wind back the clock, so to speak, and experience it firsthand.
“I’m a historian,” Moser said Wednesday. “I love history, paving the way for the future…. To see Alvan Adams, Gar Heard—legends who played here—I just started visualizing, like, what would it look like with this vertical arena?”
Moser will get his answer Thursday night, when No. 25 Oklahoma (6-0) hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-4) in McCasland Field House for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN+. It will be the first time the Sooners have played a regular-season game at McCasland — the team’s homecourt from 1928-75 — since the 2012-13 season.
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“If you think about it, all the players who came before you,” Moser said. “I know we’ve been in Lloyd Noble for 72 years. I’m exaggerating. It’s 50. I just think about all the players that have been in here and come through. I got to meet Alvan Adams. I’ve gotten to know Gar Heard and see him a lot. Alvan had spoken to our team. Knowing those guys wore the OU jersey. I believe they paved the way. That’s why I brought Kelvin (Sampson)’s team back that went to the Final Four, brought them back for the anniversary. To play in here? There’s a lot of reasons to why we did it. That’s one of them.”
It will be a different experience for Oklahoma, and fitting time to turn the clock back considering Thursday’s nonconference tilt will mark the Sooners’ first game as a ranked team during Moser’s tenure. Oklahoma debuted at No. 25 in the latest AP poll, climbing into the rankings on the strength of a pair of Quad 1 wins last week in San Diego against Iowa and then-No. 23 USC.
Those wins lifted Oklahoma to the Rady Children’s Invitational championship, as Moser’s team has gotten off to the program’s best start since the 2015-16 season, when it won 12 straight to open a campaign that ended in a Final Four run.
“I told our guys being ranked is not the destination,” Moser said. “It’s just part of the process if you’re moving where you want to go. It’s part of where you want to go. We want fans to get excited. It’s just part of where we want to go. But it’s not the destination. Those guys have to keep that in perspective. There’s reasons why we’re doing things good. I think we’re really doing things defensively. We’re offensive rebounding. We’ve been pretty efficient offensively. So, we’ve got to keep doing those things.
“But it’s a complete chase. You’re chasing where you want to go. We didn’t chase being in the top 25; it’s just part of the process of where we’re trying to go.”
It’s a process that has played out well for the Sooners thus far this season, as a reshaped roster has yielded a more entertaining style of basketball that has Oklahoma looking like a vastly different team than the one that finished last season in the Big 12 cellar. Oklahoma cruised through its initial four-game homestand, and then it passed it first big challenges of the season in a pair of neutral-site victories against quality competition: a 12-point win against Iowa followed by a two-point victory against USC on a quick turnaround thanks to a buzzer-beating tip-in by Otega Oweh, capping an early-season statement by the Sooners during the holiday weekend.
“I saw our guys in California, they were just really — I thought we defended really well, and that’s what it starts with,” Moser said. “…It wasn’t that we were shooting the ball great, we still haven’t shot it like I know we’re going to shoot it. I think we can really shoot it, just the numbers don’t show it. But defending. Finding ways to win. That’s what I liked about this group. They just kept on pushing the pace, making toughness plays and they found a way to win at the end with Otega’s tip-in. So, a lot of really key plays that led up to that. That’s what I liked.”
Oklahoma’s next opponent, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, won’t be near the quality of an Iowa or a USC; the Golden Lions are 353rd in KenPom, making them one of the 10 worst teams in the country this season. Though Arkansas-Pine Bluff will be far from the toughest team Oklahoma plays this season, it plays at one of the faster tempos the Sooners will see—more closely in line with Iowa in that regard. The Golden Lions are 20th in the nation in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, averaging 73.5 possessions per game. They’re also 29th nationally in 3-point shooting, connecting on 39% of their attempts from deep so far this season.
Moser is keeping both of those things in mind as he readies his team for its first game as a ranked program, knowing full well the Sooners will have to prioritize closing out on the perimeter and limiting offensive rebounds that could lead to quick, second-chance attempts from deep.
Oklahoma hopes it can take care of business in a somewhat distinctive game setting Thursday night, and if it does, Moser wouldn’t rule out making a game at McCasland Field House into an annual occurrence for the Sooners.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Moser said. “I hope so. I’m excited about it. The focus for our guys is to keep the main thing the main thing. The focus is it’s right on top of you. That’s what you want. I’m looking forward to playing again. Really, when I talk about the main thing, I thought we were playing well in the tournament. I think we can play better. That’s the main thing why I want to play again. This is great, fun. But I want to play again and compete and get another win and get better. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
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