Hoping for more success in SEC play, Oklahoma awaits Texas

Longtime rivals Texas and Oklahoma enter their first Southeastern Conference matchup against each other in desperate need of a win on Wednesday night in Norman, Okla.

The transition from the Big 12 to the SEC hasn't been kind to either team. After an undefeated run through their nonconference schedule, the Sooners (13-3, 0-3 SEC) have opened league play with three straight losses. Their latest setback was a 72-62 decision at Georgia on Saturday that knocked them out of the AP Top 25 poll.

Things haven't been going any better for the Longhorns (11-5, 0-3), as they've also lost their first three conference games -- most recently falling 74-70 at home to then-No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday.

Jalon Moore, Oklahoma's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game, recorded team highs of 17 points and nine rebounds against Georgia. The Sooners want more out of Jeremiah Fears, though, the team's second-leading scorer (16.6 points per game) who had only two points on 1-of-11 shooting on Saturday.

"I think he's pressing," Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said of Fears. "He wants to do so well right now and he's kind of going through it. Nobody is taking it harder than him. But he has to remember he should be a senior in high school. He's getting thrown into the No. 1 historic basketball league in the country."

Longhorns leading scorer Tre Johnson (18.9 points per game) scored a game-high 26 points against the Volunteers, but Texas still came up short in a tightly contested game. Johnson, a freshman, has gone over 20 points in five games this season, but Longhorns coach Rodney Terry wants to make sure that the budding star develops on the defensive end, too.

"At Texas, you gotta play on both ends of the floor," Terry said. "You gotta guard really hard and you gotta try to be an offensive player as well. So you know, he's gonna be better for that moving forward."

--Field Level Media