Oklahoma Drops Sixth Game in a Row as Missouri Capitalizes on Heroic Shots

The Sooners were five seconds away from ending their losing streak on Saturday.

But that proved to be too much for Missouri’s Trent Pierce.

With the Tigers trailing by three points, Pierce hit a 3-pointer from the logo to tie the game and send it to overtime. Oklahoma led by two points with four seconds left in overtime, but Tigers guard Mark Mitchell hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give them an 88-87 win over the Sooners.

Oklahoma’s loss is its sixth in a row. The Sooners are now 11-9 overall and 1-6 in SEC play, while Mizzou improved to 14-6 and 4-3 with the win.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

Late shots sink the Sooners

OU and Missouri went back and forth for the majority of the second half.

With 1:09 remaining, Oklahoma center Kirill Elatontsev made a sky hook to give the Sooners a 79-78 lead. The Sooners forced a turnover on Missouri’s ensuing possession, giving OU a chance to extend its lead.

But Jadon Jones missed on a 3-pointer after winding the shot clock down, giving Missouri the ball back after a shot-clock violation. Mitchell missed a layup afterward, and OU’s Tae Davis secured the rebound.

Davis made both of his free throws to give the Sooners an 81-78 lead with five seconds left before Pierce’s heroic shot.

In overtime, Oklahoma held Missouri without a field goal until T.O. Barrett made a game-tying layup with 25 seconds left. Xzayvier Brown responded with a two-point jumper with four seconds remaining to once again give OU the lead.

That was too much time, though, as Mitchell drilled his contested 3-pointer to give the Tigers the win.

Struggles down low

The Sooners likely wouldn’t have been in a last-minute situation if not for their poor play down low.

The Tigers outrebounded the Sooners 41-29. Even more staggering, Missouri collected 17 offensive rebounds, while Oklahoma grabbed only five.

Mizzou’s offense also scored with ease down low.

The Tigers logged 40 of their 88 points in the paint, while Oklahoma scored only 12 points inside.

Missouri also drew contact on inside shots several times, giving the Tigers opportunities at the free-throw line. They finished the game shooting 73 percent (24-of-33) from the line.

Pack gets back on track

Though it didn’t ultimately lead to a win, Nijel Pack showed flashes of his old self against the Tigers.

Pack, who came into Saturday’s game on a shooting slump, finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The guard also made five of his eight attempts from the three-point line.

In the three games before — losses to Florida, Alabama and South Carolina — Pack went 3-of-19 on 3-pointers. Pack made multiple 3-pointers in 11 of Oklahoma’s first 15 games of the season.

Pack was OU’s most consistent offensive player early in the season while Brown dealt with an ankle injury. He came into Saturday’s game averaging 15.2 points per game.

The guard’s performance against Missouri is encouraging as the Sooners try to climb out of the SEC’s cellar.