Oklahoma Cruises Past Auburn Behind Strong Shooting, Big Night from Wague

The Sooners earned their third home conference win of the 2025-26 season on Tuesday, as they defeated Auburn comfortably.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser celebrates after a made 3-pointer against Auburn. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

NORMAN — While there wasn’t much to gain for Oklahoma on Tuesday, the Sooners found a way to spoil one of their SEC foes’ nights.

The Sooners defeated Auburn — an NCAA Tournament bubble team — 91-79 for only their second home conference win. OU’s win follows its back-to-back losses against Tennessee and Texas A&M last week.

OU improved to 14-14 overall and 4-11 in SEC play with the win, while Auburn dropped to 15-13 and 6-9.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

OU lights out from deep

Oklahoma guard Jadon Jones shoots a 3-pointer against Auburn. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Stellar shooting from beyond the arc paved the way for Oklahoma’s win, as the Sooners shot 68.2 percent on 3-pointers (13-of-19).

Guard Nijel Pack logged a game-high six 3-pointers on eight attempts. Three other Sooners — Jadon Jones, Xzayvier Brown and Derrion Reid — recorded multiple threes.

Oklahoma's 68.4-percent clip from deep was its best three-point percentage of the season. The Sooners' 13 made 3-pointers were the second most of the year, trailing only their game against Florida when they made 14.

Pack's efficient night from deep allowed him to lead the game in scoring with 22 points. He finished 8-of-13 from the floor.

Wague shines in win

Oklahoma center Mohamed Wague attempts a layup against Auburn. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Center Mohamed Wague picked a good time for arguably his best game of the 2025-26 season.

Wague, a graduate student, finished Tuesday’s game with 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The 6-10 big man also made 10 of his 12 free-throw attempts and notched nine rebounds, four blocks and four steals.

Of his 18 points, Wague scored 14 of them in the first half, as he got in foul trouble early in the second half.

Wague’s strong performance followed his impressive outing in the Sooners’ loss to Texas A&M when he scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Wague entered the Auburn game averaging 6.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Sooners play spoiler

Auburn coach Steven Pearl | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

Auburn came into Tuesday’s tilt squarely on the bubble, and the outcome didn’t do the Tigers any favors.

The Tigers, only two games above .500 overall, now have nine conference losses and cannot finish SEC play with a winning record. Auburn is ranked No. 34 in the NET — used heavily by the NCAA Tournament selection committee — and will presumably fall a few spots after losing to the 71st-ranked Sooners.

As for Oklahoma, the win will move the Sooners up a few spots — but still nowhere near the bubble.

The best that OU can finish in SEC play is 7-11, and the Sooners must win three games in a row — against LSU, Missouri and Texas — for that to happen. Even if OU manages to finish the regular season on a four-game winning streak, its dismal, 3-11 start to league play almost certainly created a hole too large to climb out of, in regards to its at-large tournament chances.

Oklahoma will battle LSU on Saturday before returning to the Lloyd Noble Center to battle Missouri on Tuesday for the Sooners’ final home regular-season game.