Shaka Smart has plenty of experience against Oklahoma.Porter Moser has plenty of experience in Chicago.Smart’s Marquette squad and Moser’s Oklahoma team square off in the Bad Boy Mowers Series in Chicago on Friday afternoon.Smart went 7-5 against the Sooners in six seasons as the coach at Texas from 2015-21.Moser spent a decade coaching at Loyola Chicago, leading the Ramblers to two NCAA Tournament appearances and one Final Four.The Sooners have won back-to-back games, including Sunday’s 72-53 win over Alcorn State, since dropping a game to Nebraska 105-99 on Nov. 15.After that game, Moser challenged his team to make significant strides defensively.”Gotta be better defensively, and I thought we have three out of the four halves,” Moser said.Oklahoma is led by Nijel Pack, who is averaging 18.5 points. Xzayvier Brown is averaging 16.0 points, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals. Tae Davis and Derrion Reid are also scoring in double figures.”We need more guys playing their roles,” Moser said. “Not everybody can be their leading scorer, not everybody has the green light that Nijel Pack has, but it doesn’t mean everybody doesn’t have huge value.”The Sooners (4-2) have also gotten a recent boost from the return of Jadon Jones, who missed the season’s first four games due to injury.
