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OU Basketball: Oklahoma Enters Postseason Headed in Positive Direction

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OU Basketball: Oklahoma Enters Postseason Headed in Positive Direction


Around the time Oklahoma was blown out at Florida for a fifth consecutive SEC loss and 3-10 conference record, Sooners coach Porter Moser cleared the deck. 

“Two or three weeks ago we were talking about our mission statement,” Moser said Monday during his pre-SEC Tournament press briefing. “We wanted to play better basketball, to win games and to get in the NCAA Tournament.”

The Sooners have played better since their 85-63 nadir in Gainesville back on Feb. 18. They have won three of their last five games, and put themselves in position to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2021, Lon Kruger’s final season in charge. 

Play well again in Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m. SEC Tournament opening-round matchup against Georgia, and OU should expect to win again. One more win should just about clinch an NCAA bid, given Georgia’s No. 30 NET ranking and the potential, therefore, for the Sooners’ seventh Quad 1 victory of the season.

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It will not be easy. Nothing is easy in the SEC. OU went to the mat to beat Mississippi State 93-87, Missouri 96-84 and Texas 76-72 over the past 18 days. 

The No. 14-seed Sooners must work just as hard to beat 11-seed Georgia inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday night. 

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

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“They just won four in a row. Four in a row in the SEC,” Moser said of the Bulldogs. “Silas Demary, their point guard, in the last five games he’s up six points in his point average. He’s at 19 a game in this stretch. He is really playing at a high level. 

“They rebound so well. They’re so big and physical. They’re just playing at a high clip, very, very confident.”

The Bulldogs are more confident about March Madness than the Sooners. They are safely in the 68-team field according to bracketologists Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS. 

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OU is among Lunardi’s “Last Four In” and facing a First Four play-in game in his mock bracket. The Sooners await the same fate according to USA Today’s NCAA projection. They are an 11-seed in Palm’s bracket and in Mike DeCourcy’s at Fox Sports.

Winning Wednesday takes care of a lot of conjecture. That means changing the result from Jan. 11, the day OU lost 72-62 at Georgia. 

“We kind of beat ourselves in a sense,” OU leader Jalon Moore said Monday. “I don’t think we were as connected as we are now.”

“I think the outcome will be different the second time around,” Jeremiah Fears said.

Fears can do a lot to assure it is different. He shot 1-for-11 and had more turnovers (4) than points (2) Jan. 11 in Athens. 

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Though he didn’t shoot well at Texas last Saturday, Fears did contribute nine free throws and four assists while limiting his turnovers to two. When Moore and teammate, Brycen Goodine, Duke Miles, Glenn Taylor and Luke Northweather all scored in double figures, OU took a giant step toward its most important win of the season.

“To win in this league you’ve gotta have multiple guys producing,” Moser said.

That will certainly be the case this week in Nashville, starting Wednesday night.

“We’re playing together, we’re playing tough, we’re believing. And I think that’s what you want,” Moser said. “You want to be playing your best basketball in February and March.”



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Iowa State wrestling adds Brayden Thompson from transfer portal

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Iowa State wrestling adds Brayden Thompson from transfer portal


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Iowa State wrestling’s first commitment of the Brent Metcalf era will be a transfer portal addition.

The Cyclones added Oklahoma State transfer Brayden Thompson, who announced his commitment on April 18 via Instagram. Thompson is a one-time NCAA qualifier at the 2024 NCAA Championships, doing so as a true freshman. He redshirted in 2024-25, but competed in open tournaments at 184 pounds and was 9-0. He did not wrestle a match in 2025-26 and will have at least two years of eligibility remaining.

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Out of high school, Thompson was ranked the No. 3 pound-for-pound wrestler and No. 1 at 182 pounds in the 2023 recruiting class by Flowrestling. He also won Powerade and Ironman titles, two of the more prestigious high school tournaments in the nation. Assuming Thompson returns to 184 pounds where he last wrestled, he should fill in nicely as a potential replacement for Isaac Dean after his graduation.

Thompson is Iowa State’s first transfer portal addition after several departures, including Anthony Echemendia and Christian Castillo, who also entered the portal.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.





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Oklahoma’s Jahsiear Rogers ‘Knew It Was Time to Showcase’ His Talents In Spring Game

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Oklahoma’s Jahsiear Rogers ‘Knew It Was Time to Showcase’ His Talents In Spring Game


NORMAN — The Oklahoma Sooners liked their wide receiver room a year ago. They want 2026 to be even better.

Isaiah Sategna’s return helps that desire. Earning experienced pass catchers Trell Harris and Parker Livingstone via the transfer portal gives you added play makers. But after the Sooners Spring Game on Saturday, an unlikely hero emerged.

When Jahsiear Rogers flipped from Penn State to Oklahoma last December, he drew the usual excitement that comes with a new commitment. But few expected him to climb the depth chart this quickly, even with the injuries that hit Emmett Jones’ room.

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Rogers did just that and more on Saturday. He led all pass catchers with five receptions for 70 yards in Oklahoma’s annual Red/White game.

“I knew it was time to showcase,” Rogers said after the game. “It was amazing to see the fans and get used to the OU way. I’m a playmaker. They really want to put the ball in playmakers hands. I pretty much knew I had to lead the white team.”

Rogers got the ball rolling early. On the second offensive play for the white team, backup quarterback Whitt Newbauer rolled to his right wide, then stopped and looked towards the middle of the field where he saw Rogers running open. Newbauer connected with Rogers for a 39-yard gain.

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With Rogers on the white team, he is running against (most of) Oklahoma’s starting defense. As fate would have it, on that 39-yard reception, Rogers beat his favorite teammate to compete against — Reggie Powers.

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“He is just a leader, good guy,” Rogers said of Powers. “Me and him go after it every day in practice. Reggie is strong. When I come at him, I have to really come at him.”

Rogers’ big play over Powers was the second-longest catch of the spring game — Sategna’s 50-yard reception that appeared to be a touchdown before coaches pulled it back to set up a red-zone rep. The other four catches weren’t flashy, but they were important in their own way, and Rogers looked like he belonged on the field.

“I love it. As long as I can get the ball, I can be me. I love it,” Rogers said. “When I am on the field, I am ready to go. I am ready to be a playmaker.”

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The season is still months away, and Rogers hasn’t earned a spot high on the depth chart yet. A strong spring and an encouraging Red/White Game can only lead to early playing time if he carries that momentum into summer and fall camp.

More experienced players will return from injury and receivers who’ve been in the program for a few years will have an extra leg-up.

But Rogers is taking everything in stride and leaving no stone unturned in his development.

“Just learning from the older guys,” Rogers said. “Manny Choice, Isaiah Sategna, Trell Harris, Mackenzie Alleyne. Really all of them. We lean on each other, learn from each other. That is kind of how our room is.”

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Oklahoma knocks off Missouri in series opener

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Oklahoma knocks off Missouri in series opener


The Oklahoma baseball team is back in the mix and trending upward.

After a rough few weeks in Southeastern Conference play, the 14th-ranked Sooners have won three of their last four games to get to .500 at just beyond the halfway point of the league slate. Friday’s 9-6 win over Missouri allowed Oklahoma to move to 8-8, tied with three other teams for eighth in the standings.

Friday’s win wasn’t truly that close, even. OU took a 9-3 lead into the ninth before Mizzou made it somewhat interesting with three runs in the frame. Two of them came with two outs, though, and Mason Bixby induced a groundout with the bases empty to hold on.

The large edge came via a home run-happy night. The Sooners popped four over the wall at Kimrey Family Stadium, including three in a four-run seventh inning that gave OU a four-run lead.

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Jason Walk, who hit one of the four homers, had the best day at the plate. He went 2 for 5 with the shot, three RBIs and a run. Camden Johnson, who also homered, went 2 for 3 with a walk, a double and two runs, and Dasan Harris went 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs, and three runs. Trey Gambill hit the Sooners’ other jack.

Oklahoma jumped out to a four-run lead in the second behind four hits and a walk. Missouri helped the Sooners out with an error that resulted in a bases-loaded situation and three unearned runs registered to Tigers starter Josh McDevitt.

The runs were more than enough for Oklahoma’s LJ Mercurius, who pitched six strong innings, giving up three runs on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

Game 2 in the series is set for 4 p.m. Saturday and the finale will be played Sunday at 2 p.m., weather permitting.



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