Oklahoma Falls to Mississippi State as Second Half Drought Proves Costly

The Sooners failed to find a rhythm in their second SEC game of the 2025-26 season, and they're now 1-1 in conference play.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

For the first time of the calendar year, Oklahoma added one to the loss column on Wednesday.

The Sooners fell 72-53 to Mississippi State in Starkville. OU’s loss follows its 86-70 win over Ole Miss on Saturday.

Oklahoma fell to 11-4 (1-1 SEC) with the win, while the Bulldogs improved to 10-5 (2-0).

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:

OU stays cold in second half

Neither offense found its rhythm early on, and as a result, Oklahoma and Mississippi State went to halftime tied 27-27. OU shot just 32 percent over the first 20 minutes of the game, but thankfully for the Sooners, the Bulldogs shot only slightly better — 34 percent — and went 0-of-12 on 3-pointers in the first half.

Oklahoma started the second half 3-of-5 from the field and got out to a 38-35 lead.

But all of the momentum that the Sooners seemingly generated disappeared quickly.

Mississippi State responded with a 14-1 run to take a 10-point lead. Over a seven-minute stretch in the middle of the second half, Oklahoma shot 0-of-8 from the field and committed five turnovers.

OU ended the game shooting just 31 percent from the field. The Sooners made just three of their 20 attempts from the three-point line.

Sooner guards struggle in loss

Nijel Pack and Xzayvier Brown have been the leaders of OU’s superb backcourt, but both of them had off games against MSU.

While Brown tied for a team-high 13 points, he did so on an inefficient 4-of-16 clip from the field. Pack, usually a sharpshooter, scored only 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and he made just one of his five attempts on 3-pointers.

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Brown and Pack also combined for seven turnovers.

Pack entered Wednesday’s game averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game and a 46.1-percent clip on 3-pointers. Brown, averaging 15.9 points per game, had scored 18 or more points in each of the Sooners’ previous five games.

Mississippi State star guard Josh Hubbard, on the other hand, paved the way for Mississippi State’s winning effort. Hubbard, a 6-0 junior, finished the game with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting.

Moving forward

Oklahoma will only have a few days to flush Wednesday’s loss, as the Sooners will battle Texas A&M on the road on Saturday.

The Aggies, led by first-year coach Bucky McMillan, are 2-0 in conference play. Texas A&M defeated LSU in its SEC opener before upsetting Auburn on Tuesday for a quad-one win.

The Sooners entered Wednesday’s game ranked No. 48 in the NET rankings, which are used heavily by the NCAA Tournament selection committee. Their loss to MSU — No. 97 — will presumably drop them a few spots before they battle the Aggies.

Saturday’s game will be a chance for OU to earn a quad-one win, as Texas A&M is ranked No. 49 in the NET.

All 16 SEC teams entered Wednesday ranked in the top 100 of the NET. This means that each of OU’s remaining 16 conference games will be an opportunity to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume.