OU men's basketball: Top-10 Sooners hoping success translates on the road this week

NORMAN — Porter Moser doesn’t get too caught up in the difference between winning at home vs. winning on the road.

The OU coach said that stems from Rick Majerus, his mentor, who preached consistency.

“He didn’t make a big deal about the road,” Moser said. “It was about us, what we do the same way — our process, our game preparation, everything is exactly the same.

“Our process is we will get over there, we’ll get a lot of shots being an 8 o’clock game. We’ll get a lot of shots in their arena.”

Heading into Wednesday’s 8 p.m. Big 12 showdown vs. TCU, which will be broadcast on ESPN2, that may be how Moser wants it to be, but the difference so far during Moser’s tenure has been significant.

While the Sooners are 9-10 in Big 12 play at Lloyd Noble Center during Moser’s tenure, they’re just 4-14 on the road over the last two seasons in conference play.

This year’s team, so far, has been different.

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OU enters Wednesday’s game 13-1 and ranked ninth.

This week’s games are the Sooners’ first two true road games of the season, though they faced North Carolina in Charlotte on Dec. 20.

“I think we learn that we go in willing to fight,” Sooners’ guard Javian McCollum said. “No matter who it is, no matter what our opponent holds, we’re going in to get a dub. It’s going to be a dogfight every night and we’re not willing to give up.”

McCollum is a big reason why Moser is confident heading onto the road this week.

With McCollum and Milos Uzan, the Sooners have a pair of capable point guards.

Moser said communication, particularly with the point guards, is highlighted on the road.

“That’s one big thing we do talk about is our communication when it’s loud against us,” Moser said. “That we’ve gotta stay poised. We will talk about that. And that’s the biggest thing is these venues are so extreme that you’ve gotta communicate. And what do you do when a run’s against you and their crowd’s going against you? What’s a good possession? A good possession isn’t trying to take an eight-point shot. There’s not eight-point shots. That’s what happens sometimes when you get in these situations where you get down and one guy’s like, ‘I wanna win.’ I try to do it all myself and then there’s no eight-point shot.

“You need good possessions, good leadership and communication, that everybody’s on the same page.”

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In that game against North Carolina, the Sooners had a season-high 18 turnovers.

TCU is forcing 17 turnovers per game, third in the Big 12. Iowa State is leading the Big 12, forcing 18.6 per game.

In Saturday’s home win over the Cyclones, OU had just 10 turnovers.

“It was our turnovers,” Moser said of the loss to North Carolina. “It was our turnovers and what we did learn from that is ‘Guys, you gotta take care of that ball.’ You gotta take care of the ball. We can’t have 18 turnovers at TCU.”

The Sooners are looking for their first victory over the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth during Moser’s tenure.

TCU is 11-3, coming off an 83-81 loss at Kansas on Saturday in its Big 12 opener.

“It’s going to be an absolute physical game,” Moser said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball: Sooners working to take success on road to TCU