OU men's basketball pulls away from UMKC thanks to Grant Sherfield's hot shooting

NORMAN — Porter Moser joked that it was good coaching.

In reality, he knew it was all Grant Sherfield.

OU earned a 75-53 win over UMKC on Tuesday thanks in part to the senior guard, who erupted for 22 of his 24 points in the second half. Sherfield unleashed a masterful performance on the Roos, and he saved his best for last.

The Sooners held a nine-point lead with 6:10 left in the game when Sherfield gathered a pass on the left wing. The Nevada transfer slipped to the floor as a double team came his way, but he kept his dribble and got back on his feet.

Sherfield then blew past a defender with a hesitation move and launched a floater over a cluster of UMKC defenders. The ball hit the back iron and fittingly got the shooter’s roll as it fell through the net.

“That play’s not going to be drawn up in any coaches clinic," Moser said with a grin. "I think when (Sherfield) gets going, you can just see he heats up. You can just see it in his eyes. He’s like that. We’re gonna see that a lot where he can get cooking."

Here are three takeaways from the win:

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Milos Uzan brings life to OU’s offense in first career start

Milos Uzan saw his opportunity and took it.

The freshman guard got his first career start Tuesday, and he didn’t waste any time capitalizing. Uzan caught a pass on the game’s first possession and saw his defender sink in, so he calmly knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing.

"It was a little jitters coming in for sure," Uzan said. "But when he backed up he was kind of like giving it to me. So it was kind of cool for sure... I was just trying to have fun and trying to win. Whatever it really took, honestly."

Uzan then showed off his passing vision midway through the first half.

The Las Vegas native split a pair of defenders with the shot clock winding down and dumped it off to Sam Godwin, who slammed it home despite being fouled.

OU went 2-for-9 from the floor (22.2%) to start the game, but Uzan took his team off life support. He recorded 7 points and 2 assists in the first half to help the Sooners enter the midway point in a 27-27 stalemate.

Uzan finished the night with 11 points and 5 assists, which both tie career-high marks. It's a strong performance from the first-year guard, who has managed to rise to the top of OU's rotation.

"I just thought it was time," Moser said of the decision to start Uzan. "He's been playing really well. He's been in practice and in the games, and I think his minutes have been really good... I thought Los was really good."

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Tanner Groves has developed into OU’s defensive anchor

Shemarri Allen wanted another shot at Tanner Groves.

The UMKC senior got a one-handed dunk attempt blocked by Groves early in the first half, and he attacked OU’s big man once again with 17:45 left in the game.

Allen went for a two-handed dunk attempt this time around, but the result was still the same. Groves met Allen at the rim and blocked his shot as the crowd at Lloyd Noble Center erupted.

After struggling with his interior defense last season, Groves has become an anchor for OU on that side of the ball.

The 6-foot-10 senior recorded three blocks on Tuesday. He now boasts 13 rejections this season, which is just one block shy of matching his total from all of last season.

Groves has also become more aggressive on the glass. He entered Tuesday with a career-high defensive rebounding percentage of 31.9 percent, which ranks fourth in the nation.

OU has hung its hat on being a good defensive team in the second year of the Moser era, and that’s thanks in large part to the improvement of Groves.

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OU’s 3-point shooting comes back down to earth

Sherfield was feeling himself.

After draining a right-wing 3-pointer on the previous possession, the senior guard called for the ball once again from the same spot. UMKC’s RayQuawndis Mitchell got a hand up, but Sherfield still splashed the deep bomb to give OU a 42-30 lead with 14:48 left in the game.

That marked the second straight 3-pointer by Sherfield, who decided to test his temperature with a heat-check shot on the next possession.

The veteran guard shook UMKC’s Emmanouil Dimou with a flurry of dribble moves at the top of the arc before stepping back and draining his third straight triple.

Sherfield’s hot shooting from deep was a rarity for an OU offense that struggled to find its range all evening. Sherfield went 5-for-6 from distance (83.3 percent), but the rest of the Sooners went just 2-for-11 (18.2 percent).

OU was due for a shooting slump. The team shot a combined 47.1 percent from 3-point range in its last four games.

“I thought we were getting good shots," Moser said. "We just left a couple of threes on the table.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball: Grant Sherfield helps Sooners pull away from UMKC