Update on OU guard Jeremiah Fears’ availability vs. Tennessee

It’s going to be an intense 16 hours here for OU basketball. The Sooners might be without one of their biggest stars for one of their biggest games.

Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears was listed as questionable Friday evening on the SEC-mandated availability report.

OU hosts No. 4-ranked Tennessee at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Fears took a shot to his thigh in the second half during OU’s loss at Auburn on Tuesday. Fears did return to the game, but he has been limited in practice ever since.

Auburn definitely tried to goad the young superstar into doing something stupid. All part of the game, said head coach Porter Moser.

“He’s gotta go through it, gotta learn,” Moser said. “Older guys and what they’re trying to do and get in their head. A huge, hostile environment. He has to go through some of it. What we do is continue to talk to him and learn and show him what they’re trying to do and how to handle situations.

“That’s the thing about basketball. It’s right on top of you. Then you have some older guys doing it. you can feel the tension in that type of atmosphere right on top of you. He’s going to grow from it, learn from it. You have to go through some of that to learn from it.”

Fears is averaging just under 16 points per game, with 4.2 assists and 3.8 and 1.8 steals rebounds per contest.

Door opens for Elvis

Regardless if Fears is available or not, this should open the door for more minutes for senior guard Kobe Elvis. The Dayton transfer began the season as part of a three-guard starting lineup. However, as OU adjusted for more size, Elvis has been coming off the bench.

Moser said the Sooners will need that type of veteran experience going against a great team like the Vols on Saturday.

Moser said Elvis was given a lot of practice reps throughout the latter stages of this week to get him prepared once again.

Tennessee marks the fourth straight game for OU against a ranked opponent. OU is 1-2 right now during this five-game stretch.

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