Heading into as we speak\u2019s recreation in opposition to No. 21 Mississippi State, it was clear what Porter Moser\u2019s Sooners wanted to do to make the NCAA Event: win three of their final 5 video games. It began with this matchup in opposition to the Bulldogs \u2014 a possibility to snag an important win for his or her event hopes and snap a five-game dropping streak.
Within the first half, the Sooners began robust however in the end trailed Mississippi State 37-34 at halftime. Jeremiah Fears contributed 15 factors and 6 assists, whereas Sam Godwin added 9 factors and eight rebounds.
That first-half efficiency was strong sufficient for Oklahoma, they usually adopted it up with a powerful begin to the second half, main 69-61 with 9:06 left. This was clearly the very best convention recreation they’d put collectively in weeks, however the lingering query was: may they maintain on?
Regardless of a number of late-season collapses this yr, the Sooners managed to keep away from one as we speak \u2014 although it got here shut \u2014 as they performed what was their finest recreation of the season up up to now, in the end securing a 93-87 victory and bettering to 17-10 (4-10) on the season.
After a 22-point outing in opposition to No. 2 Florida, Jeremiah Fears adopted up with an much more spectacular efficiency. Within the first half, he totaled 15 factors and 6 assists, which was essential, particularly with Jalon Moore quiet throughout that interval. Fears was extremely environment friendly, capturing 5-8 from the sphere and 4-6 from the free-throw line.
The second half was extra of the identical for Fears, as he added 12 factors and 4 assists on 2-4 capturing from the sphere and an excellent 7-8 from the free-throw line. Notably, he performed all 20 minutes of the second half.
Fears completed the sport with 27 factors, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, three turnovers, a block, and a steal in 37 minutes of play. He shot 7-12 from the sphere, 2-5 from past the arc, and 11-14 from the free-throw line. This efficiency undoubtedly stands out as his better of the season.
The Sooners didn\u2019t shoot effectively from deep within the first half, going 4-13 (30.8%), however they’d loads of open appears they didn’t capitalize on. Two of the 4 made three-pointers got here from Kobe Elvis, who was 2-3 from past the arc within the first half.
Within the second half, the story was solely totally different, because the Sooners shot 7-13 (53.8%) from three-point vary. They noticed 5 totally different gamers hit photographs from deep: Brycen Goodine went 2-2, Jalon Moore shot 2-5, and Dayton Forsythe, Kobe Elvis, and Jeremiah Fears every contributed one.
All in all, they completed the sport capturing 11-26 (42.3%) from past the arc. That three-point capturing, paired with Fears\u2019 efficiency, propelled them to victory over No. 21 Mississippi State.
The late-game execution seemed nice from Oklahoma till it didn\u2019t. The Bulldogs lower the result in six with 1:11 left and compelled a 10-second violation on the Sooners. Then, a missed free throw by Sam Godwin led to a Mississippi State layup, chopping Oklahoma\u2019s result in 89-84 with 50 seconds remaining.
After that, Miles hit one free throw, pushing the result in 90-84, however Mississippi State responded with a three-pointer to make it a three-point recreation, inflicting each Oklahoma fan to flash again to final week\u2019s recreation in opposition to LSU.
The principle distinction that in the end helped the Sooners maintain on was that 1) they’d a number of timeouts as an alternative of only one, and a pair of) they didn\u2019t commit any careless turnovers. In the end, Forsythe hit two free throws on the line to ice the sport. It received somewhat shut, however they nonetheless held on.
It was a quiet first half for Moore on each side of the ball, as he totaled simply three factors on a poor 1-7 capturing from the sphere. Issues flipped within the second half, although, as he scored 15 factors on an environment friendly 5-9 capturing to convey his complete to 18 factors for the day whereas taking part in 35 minutes.
Godwin additionally had a strong efficiency, however in contrast to Moore, he was regular all through the sport. Godwin completed with 17 factors and 10 rebounds, capturing 7-8 from the sphere and 3-7 from the free throw line in 27 minutes.
Total, the Sooners acquired nice contributions from each Godwin and Moore, and each made enormous baskets to assist safe the numerous win.
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