KU to face Oklahoma’s Groves brothers, who almost beat Jayhawks in NCAA Tournament
Spokane, Washington natives Tanner and Jacob Groves were perfectly happy last season playing college basketball at in-state mid-major Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference.
The high-scoring brother duo became intrigued by the NCAA transfer portal, however — and ultimately decided to upgrade to high-major status — after throwing a major scare into the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Tanner Groves, a 6-foot-10, 235-pound senior power forward, who scored 35 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots, and Jacob, a 6-9, 210-pound junior forward, who scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds in No. 14-seed EWU’s 93-84 loss to No. 3-seed KU on March 20 in Indianapolis, each selected Oklahoma as a transfer destination.
Tanner Groves figures to start and Jacob come off the bench for their new school Tuesday when the unranked Sooners (12-5, 2-3 Big 12) take on the No. 7-ranked Jayhawks (14-2, 3-1) in a 6 p.m. tip at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
“It kind of made both of us realize what each of us can do against some of the best teams in the country. We’re capable of playing against some of the best teams, so why not us?” Tanner Groves said Monday, referring to moving on after putting up big numbers against the Jayhawks.
“It just gave us the spark and the urge to see what’s out there. That’s why we entered the portal and how we ended up (at Oklahoma), and it’s been great since then,” Tanner Groves added in an interview with media members who regularly cover the Sooners.
Tanner Groves — he hit 11 of 18 shots (5-of-11 from three and 8-of-9 from the line) versus the Jayhawks in the NCAA tourney game — is averaging a team-leading 13.1 points on 57.3% shooting at OU. He’s made 26 of 35 free throws for 74.3% and 19 of 50 threes for 38%.
“(Against) OU we are going to get the chance to guard a guy who gave us 35 in the NCAA Tournament last year,” KU coach Bill Self said of Tanner Groves after Saturday’s 85-59 home victory over West Virginia.
KU power forward David McCormack, who scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds Saturday against the Mountaineers, totaled 22 points (with nine boards) versus Eastern Washington last postseason. He had 20 points in the second half as KU erased a 10-point deficit in the first-round nailbiter.
“I’ve got to give credit to Groves,” McCormack said after that tourney game referring to Tanner Groves. “He was a great shooter and great big man on the perimeter. I definitely had to close out on him and stay down.”
Meanwhile, Jacob Groves, who hit 8 of 11 shots versus KU (4-of-5 from three and 3-of-3 from the line), has averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds his first year at OU. He’s made 45.2% of his shots, including 5 of 25 threes (20%) and 6 of 12 free throws (50%).
“I thought they were fabulous,” Self said of the brothers last March. The two combined for 32 first-half points as KU trailed, 46-38, at halftime.
Self was so impressed he spoke with Tanner, the older brother, in the handshake line.
“It was just mutual respect. He told me ‘Great game,’ and I said ‘Thank you,’’’ Tanner Groves said to reporters Monday. “It was just a normal handshake, but it was pretty good. It was good.”
Tanner recalls being especially proud of his brother after his stellar performance against KU.
“It was incredible. It was just really fun to see. Growing up, playing against him and playing with him my whole life, it was pretty fun to see what he was capable of, Tanner Groves said Monday.
Tanner Groves — his best scoring game as a Sooner has been 24 points versus Indiana State (he had 20 in a win over Florida) — has scored nine points combined (with 12 rebounds) in OU’s last two league games — losses at TCU (59-58, OT) and Texas (66-52). He had 16 points in a home win over Iowa State (79-66) and 13 points in a loss at Baylor (84-74). He missed the Sooners’ 71-69 league opening victory against Kansas State (as did Jacob) because of COVID protocols.
“I think, just in terms of offense, that I need to be better for the team and for the guys. I need to do a lot better job taking care of the ball myself. A lot of the offense, the ball is through me. I need to make a lot smarter decisions with the ball in my hands,” Groves said.
“Coach (Porter Moser) and I have been talking a lot these last few days and I just need to be a lot tougher. I know that I can be. I just need to go out and do it. We can let our defense carry us as well. That’s what we’ve been doing. Once we get it going on offense, I think we’ll be fine. I think that we definitely are capable of being great. We just have to go out and do it.”
Jacob Groves scored a season-high 11 points versus Indiana State and 10 points against Texas.
“Teams are really going to scout you hard,” Tanner said of opponents in the Big 12. “Just for me personally, I need to find other ways to affect the game. I think the last few games, I’ve been kind of lacking my physicality. I’ve got to get that in the game. I know teams are going to try to take away my three-point shot because I know they’re going to scout that. I think it was evident against Texas. They switched 1 through 5 and they kind of took that away.”
He did not attempt a three versus the Longhorns and finished with three points.
“TCU did that for a bit too (he was 0-3 from three and finished with six points), so I just need to find other ways to affect the game. I was able to pull down 10 boards and a couple of offensive boards against TCU. I think I’m definitely capable of doing that, and I’ll do whatever it takes to win. We’ve been talking about this a lot as a team. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit or who scores the points. We just all want to win. That’s the main thing for all of us.”
Of Tanner Groves, first-year OU coach Moser said: “Coming in, he had the highest character. He’s all that every day. I think he’s getting used to that physicality every day. I don’t think he saw that level of physicality every day at Eastern Washington. I’m seeing him start to understand that it’s going to be every night with these types of bodies, multiple bodies coming at you. I’m seeing that understanding that it’s going to be like this. His character? That’s been there, high level from the jump.”
Moser senses a great matchup between Tanner Groves and McCormack on Tuesday night.
“McCormack is the second-best offensive rebounder in the country beside the young man at Kentucky (Oscar Tshiebwe),” Moser said. “He had 10 offensive rebounds against West Virginia. He was physical. They’re big. We’re thin inside. TCU, that hurt us. They ran three bigs throughout the game and we’ve got to get more production. We’ve got to get some depth inside there.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2022 at 8:21 AM with the headline "KU to face Oklahoma’s Groves brothers, who almost beat Jayhawks in NCAA Tournament."
