# 2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Oklahoma Sooners basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by 10th-year head coach Lon Kruger and played their home games at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma, as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 16–11, 9–8 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament, they defeated Iowa State before losing to Kansas in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the West region. There they defeated Missouri in the First Round before losing to Gonzaga in the Second Round.
On March 25, 2021, head coach Lon Kruger retired as head coach after 10 years at Oklahoma and 45 years of coaching. On April 3, the school named Loyola coach Porter Moser the new head coach.

## Previous season

The Sooners finished the 2019–20 season with an overall record of 19–11, 9–9 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for third place. All postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Corbin Merritt | 2 | C | 6'9" | 245 | RS Sophomore | Tallahassee, FL | Transferred to Austin Peay |
| Kristian Doolittle | 21 | F | 6'7" | 232 | Senior | Edmond, OK | Graduated |
| Jamal Bieniemy | 24 | G | 6'5" | 187 | Sophomore | Katy, TX | Transferred to UTEP |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Umoja Gibson | 2 | G | 6'1" | 176 | Junior | Waco, TX | Transferred from North Texas. |
| Elijah Harkless | 24 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Rialto, CA | Transferred from Cal State Northridge. |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Trey Phipps PG / SG | Tulsa, OK | Booker T. Washington | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Aug 1, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Josh O'Garro SF | George Town, Cayman Islands | Santa Clarita Christian School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Aug 6, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| December 3, 2020* 7:00 pm, FSOK | | UTSA | W 105–66 | 1–0 | Lloyd Noble Center (2,201) Norman, OK |
| December 6, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at TCU | W 82–78 | 2–0 (1–0) | Schollmaier Arena (1,747) Fort Worth, TX |
| December 9, 2020* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Xavier Big East/Big 12 Battle | L 77–99 | 2–1 | Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 12, 2020* 4:00 pm, FSOK | | Florida A&M | W 85–54 | 3–1 | Lloyd Noble Center (1,909) Norman, OK |
| December 16, 2020* 7:00 pm, FSOK | | Oral Roberts | W 79–65 | 4–1 | Lloyd Noble Center (2,000) Norman, OK |
| December 19, 2020* 4:00 pm, FSOK | | Houston Baptist | W 84–65 | 5–1 | Lloyd Noble Center (611) Norman, OK |
| December 22, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 15 Texas Tech | L 67–69 | 5–2 (1–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (1,328) Norman, OK |
| January 2, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 9 West Virginia | W 75–71 | 6–2 (2–1) | Lloyd Noble Center (2,431) Norman, OK |
| January 6, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 2 Baylor | L 61–76 | 6–3 (2–2) | Ferrell Center (2,350) Waco, TX |
| January 9, 2021 3:30 pm, CBS | | at No. 6 Kansas | L 59–63 | 6–4 (2–3) | Allen Fieldhouse (2,500) Lawrence, KS |
| January 12, 2021 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | TCU | W 82–46 | 7–4 (3–3) | Lloyd Noble Center (1,921) Norman, OK |
| January 16, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Oklahoma State Bedlam | Postponed | Postponed | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| January 19, 2021 5:30 pm, FSOK | | at Kansas State | W 76–50 | 8–4 (4–3) | Lloyd Noble Center (1,934) Norman, OK |
| January 23, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN | | No. 9 Kansas | W 75–68 | 9–4 (5–3) | Lloyd Noble Center (2,669) Norman, OK |
| January 26, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | at No. 5 Texas | W 80–79 | 10–4 (6–3) | Frank Erwin Center (0) Austin, TX |
| January 30, 2021* 11:00 am, ESPN | No. 24 | No. 9 Alabama Big 12/SEC Challenge | W 66–61 | 11–4 | Lloyd Noble Center (2,680) Norman, OK |
| February 1, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 9 | at No. 13 Texas Tech | L 52–57 | 11–5 (6–4) | United Supermarkets Arena (4,250) Lubbock, TX |
| February 6, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN2 | No. 9 | Iowa State | W 79–72 | 12–5 (7–4) | Lloyd Noble Center (2,734) Norman, OK |
| February 10, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 12 | No. 2 Baylor | Postponed | Postponed | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| February 13, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 12 | at No. 14 West Virginia | W 91–90 $^{2OT}$ | 13–5 (8–4) | WVU Coliseum (2,800) Morgantown, WV |
| February 18, 2021 TBD | No. 9 | No. 12 Texas | Postponed | Postponed | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| February 20, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 9 | at Iowa State | W 66–56 | 14–5 (9–4) | Hilton Coliseum (1,281) Ames, IA |
| February 23, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 7 | at Kansas State | L 57–62 | 14–6 (9–5) | Bramlage Coliseum (896) Manhattan, KS |
| February 27, 2021 2:00 pm, ABC | No. 7 | Oklahoma State Bedlam | L 90–94 $^{OT}$ | 14–7 (9–6) | Lloyd Noble Center (2,929) Norman, OK |
| March 1, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | at No. 17 Oklahoma State Bedlam | L 75–79 | 14–8 (9–7) | Gallagher-Iba Arena (3,350) Stillwater, OK |
| March 4, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | No. 15 Texas | L 65–69 | 14–9 (9–8) | Lloyd Noble Center (2,952) Norman, OK |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2021 8:30 pm, ESPN | (7) No. 25 | vs. (10) Iowa State First Round | W 79–73 | 15–9 | Sprint Center (0) Kansas City, MO |
| March 11, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN | (7) No. 25 | vs. (2) No. 11 Kansas Quarterfinals | L 62–69 | 15–10 | Sprint Center (3,510) Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2021* 6:25 pm, TNT | (8 W) | vs. (9 W) Missouri First Round | W 72–68 | 16–10 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| March 22, 2021* 1:40 pm, CBS | (8 W) | vs. (1 W) No. 1 Gonzaga Second Round | L 71–87 | 16–11 | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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