NORMAN — Dave Kleckner doesn’t have to convince anyone about Elijah Harkless’ value any more.
Not when the college basketball world is seeing what Harkless is doing — on both ends, but especially the defensive end, as OU and Harkless run through a rare scheduling gauntlet of top-10 opponents.
But the Sooners keep rising to the occasion, and Harkless keeps right in the middle of it, including in Saturday’s 66-61 win over No. 9 Alabama at Lloyd Noble Center.
It was the Sooners’ fifth consecutive win and third straight over a top-10 opponent.
OU became just the third team since The Associated Press poll was introduced in 1948-49 to knock off four top-10 opponents in one calendar month and the first since North Carolina State in 1974.