OU, Louisville Meet in Battle 4 Atlantis Championship Game

NORMAN – Oklahoma and Louisville will meet in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game on Friday, Nov. 29 at 4:35 p.m. CT inside Imperial Arena. The contest will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Chad McKee and Kevin Henry announcing and be broadcast by ESPN with Dave O'Brien (PxP) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst) on the call.

Oklahoma vs. Louisville
Date: Friday, Nov. 29
Tip Time: 4:30 p.m. CT
Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas
Arena: Imperial Arena

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Game Notes

OPENING TIP

•  Oklahoma and Louisville are slated to meet in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game on Friday, Nov. 29 at 4:30 p.m. CT inside Imperial Arena. The Sooners advanced to the winners bracket with a 79-77 victory over Providence on Wednesday and beat No. 24/23 Arizona 82-77 in the semifinals on Thursday. Oklahoma is 3-1 all-time against the Cardinals.

•  The Sooners are 6-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis, appearing in the event for the third time in 2024. Oklahoma played in its first B4A tournament in 2014, making it to the championship game before it fell to then-No. 2/3 Wisconsin. OU played in the 2018 tournament and opened with a victory over Florida before another loss to Wisconsin. OU capped the event with a win over Dayton.

•  Redshirt freshman Jacolb Fredson-Cole, graduate Kobe Elvis (Dayton/DePaul), sixth year Brycen Goodine (Syracuse/Providence/Fairfield), graduate Mohamed Wague (Harcum College/West Virginia/Alabama), redshirt senior Duke Miles (Troy/High Point) senior Glenn Taylor Jr. (Oregon State/St. John's), freshman Jeremiah Fears and freshman Dayton Forsythe made their Oklahoma debuts in the season opener against Lindenwood on Nov. 4. Miles, Goodine and Elvis earned their first starts in the Crimson and Cream against the Lions, while Taylor Jr. started against Northwestern State and Stetson. Fears appeared in the starting lineup against East Texas A&M, Providence and Arizona, recording 20-plus points in each contest.

•  Oklahoma head men's basketball coach Porter Moser is in his fourth season leading the program. Moser guided Oklahoma to a 20-12 record and an 8-10 mark in OU's final season in the Big 12. The 2023-24 squad was the first team to reach 20 regular season wins since the 2016 Final Four team.

•  Moser earned his 350th career victory when the Sooners topped Stetson 86-64 on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Lloyd Noble Center.

•  Junior Jalon Moore and super senior Sam Godwin return as starters from last season's 20-win team. Moore earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades, averaging 11.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 0.6 steals and 0.5 assists per outing in 31 starts. Godwin started 31 games in 2023-24 and shot 59.8% from the field (75-126), ranking seventh in program history for single-season field goal percentage. Moore recorded 20-plus points in the first three games, while Godwin led the Sooners on the glass, recording 9-plus rebounds in the first three contests.

•  OU embarks on its inaugural season in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 2024-25 after 28 years in the Big 12, finishing with a 258-214 (.548) mark in conference competition.

LAST TIME OUT

• Freshman Jeremiah Fears and senior Jalon Moore combined for 50 points and the Sooners beat No. 24/23 Arizona 82-77 in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 28 at Imperial Arena. Fears scored a team-high and season-high 26 points on 7-for-17 shooting and tallied five rebounds and a team-high five assists. Moore added 24 points on 7-for-15 shooting and tallied a team-high seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Luke Northweather recorded career highs in points (10) and rebounds (10).

• The Sooners entered halftime up 36-30 and received a spark from Fears, who scored 12 straight points for the Sooners, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Wildcats cut the deficit to four with 1:14 remaining and the Sooners turned to Fears at the free throw line. The Joliet, Ill., product buried all four of his attempts in the final 20 seconds, sealing the semifinal victory and advancing Oklahoma to the championship game.

RANKING SUMMARY (2024-25)

• OU is in the top 60 in 11 NCAA DI categories, ranking 12th in steals per game (11.0), 21st in free throw percentage (79.3), 36th in scoring margin (17.5), 37th in turnovers forced per game (16.0), 43rd in three point percentage defense (27.5), 44th in turnover margin (4.0), 54th in effective field goal percentage (55.9), 54th in fastbreak points (15.0), 58th in three pointers per game (9.7), 59th in assists per game (16.3) and 60th in scoring defense (65.2).

• Freshman Jeremiah Fears is 34th in steals per game (2.5), 59th in free throws made (34), 59th in steals (15), 77th in points per game (18.0) and 88th in assists per game (4.7). Redshirt senior Duke Miles is 91st in steals per game (2.0). Super senior Sam Godwin is 53rd in offensive rebounds per game (3.2) and 84th in rebounds per outing (8.2).

FRESHMAN ON FIRE

• Freshman Jeremiah Fears scored 16 points in 26-plus minutes in the season opener and 15 points in 29-plus minutes against Northwestern State, becoming the first OU true freshman to score 15-plus points and play 25-plus minutes in their first two games since Trae Young in 2017. Young scored 15 points in his debut against Omaha on Nov. 12 and tallied 22 against Ball State on Nov. 15, playing 26 minutes in both contests.

• Against East Texas A&M on Nov. 21, 2024, Fears made his first career start, finishing with 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. He is the first Sooner since Young against Iowa State (22 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and four steals) to reach those totals, and the only one to hit those marks and attempt 10 or fewer field goals since the 1996-97 campaign.

• Fears has scored 20-plus points in all three of his starts, including a season-high 26 points against No. 24/23 Arizona.

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS HISTORY

• Oklahoma is making its third appearance in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2024 and first under the direction of Oklahoma head men's basketball coach Porter Moser as the previous two visits to the Bahamas were under Lon Kruger. OU finished second in 2014, falling to then-No. 2/3 Wisconsin in the championship game. After an opening-round victory against Florida in 2018, the Sooners lost to Wisconsin again before beating Dayton. The Sooners are 6-2 in the tournament, including an opening-round victory against Providence on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and a semifinal win over No. 24/23 Arizona on Thursday, Nov. 28.

MTE HISTORY UNDER MOSER

•  Under Moser, Oklahoma is 9-1 in MTE games, including back-to-back championships at the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational and 2023 Rady Children's Invitational. The Sooners finished 2-1 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, besting East Carolina and Indiana State before a championship game loss to Utah State.

•  In the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational, Oklahoma held Ole Miss scoreless for the final 4:26, finishing on a 7-0 run and earning the tournament title. OU shot 50% or greater from the field in all three games. Sam Godwin scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the championship game. Oklahoma continued its winning ways in San Diego, beating both Iowa and USC in 2023. Against the Trojans, former Sooner Otega Oweh sealed the victory with a tip-in basket with 1.4 seconds remaining.

•  The Sooners earned their fourth consecutive opening-round victory in an MTE under Moser on Wednesday, Nov. 27, besting Providence 79-77 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Oklahoma advanced to the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game with an 82-77 win No. 24/23 Arizona on Thursday, Nov. 28.

JALON MOORE VS. LOUISVILLE

• Before joining Oklahoma prior to the 2023-24 season, senior Jalon Moore spent two seasons at Georgia Tech, playing Louisville four times as a member of the Yellow Jackets and averaging 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 points in 12.3 minutes per outing.

BUDDY AND THE BAHAMAS

• Former Sooner standout Buddy Hield hails from Freeport, Bahamas. Hield spent four seasons in Norman and finished second all-time in points scored (2,291) in program history. In his final collegiate season, he was named the winner of the 2016 Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and Oscar Robertson Trophy. Hield was a two-time All-Big 12 First Team member (2015, 2016) and ranks first in OU history in 3-pointers made (349) and attempts (894). He was selected sixth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma returns to Norman for the SEC/ACC Challenge and hosts Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast by ESPN2.