Oklahoma Overcomes Slow First Half to Beat Wake Forest Comfortably

The Sooners woke up at halftime and ran away from the Demon Deacons to improve to 6-2 on the season.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser | Carson Field, Sooners On S

The Sooners played high-quality basketball in the second half on Tuesday, helping them earn an 86-68 win over Wake Forest on the road.

OU, now 6-2, outscored the Demon Deacons 49-33 in the second half to earn its comfortable win. The win is Oklahoma’s third in a row and follows the Sooners’ neutral-site victory over Marquette on Friday.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win over the Demon Deacons:

Sooners find stride in second half

Both OU and Wake Forest came out of the gates in sluggish fashion.

The Sooners shot 36 percent from the field in the first half, while the Demon Deacons shot 35 percent. Oklahoma attempted 21 free throws, while WF attempted 14. 

The teams also struggled with ball control. Oklahoma turned the ball over eight times; the Demon Deacons logged seven first-half turnovers.

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By the time the first-half buzzer sounded, Oklahoma led 37-35. And when the teams returned, the Sooners controlled the game.

As a team, OU shot 61.5 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Sooners held Wake Forest to a 33-percent clip from the floor in the second half.

The Sooners also won the rebounding battle 19-13 in the second half.

Jones heats up late

Guard Jadon Jones reached double figures for the first time of his OU career, finishing the game with 11 points.

Jones scored nine of his 11 points in the second half. The guard excelled at drawing contact, finishing the game 5-of-6 on free throws.

He also played lock-tight defense against the Demon Deacons, and he was a major reason why Wake Forest shot 33 percent from the field in the second half.

Jones was one of six Sooners that reached double figures in OU’s well-spread scoring effort. Derrion Reid and Tae Davis tied for a game-high 18 points.

Jones played four seasons at Long Beach State before transferring to OU ahead of the 2024-25 season. An injury, though, prevented him from appearing last season. Jones made his OU debut a couple weeks ago against Oral Roberts.

Another big opportunity coming up

Oklahoma improved to 2-2 in non-conference games against power-conference opponents with its win over Wake Forest. Previously, the Sooners fell to Gonzaga and Nebraska before defeating Marquette last week.

OU’s next two games are also neutral-site games against quality teams. The Sooners will battle Arizona State at Mortgage Matchup Center — home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns — on Saturday before taking on Oklahoma State at the Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, next week.

Saturday’s game against the Sun Devils will begin at 9 p.m. ASU is currently 6-2 and finished second place at the Maui Invitational last week.

Both of those games will be opportunities for Oklahoma to build its NCAA Tournament resume before SEC play begins.

After those two contests, Oklahoma will conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule with home games against three mid-major opponents: Kansas City, Stetson and Mississippi Valley State.