Oklahoma’s Stars Lead Sooners to Dominant Win Over Kansas City

Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack both had hot hands early against Kansas City on Tuesday, allowing the Sooners to pull away for good.

Oklahoma guard Xzayvier Brown attempts a layup against Kansas City. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Oklahoma avoided any and all stress on Tuesday.

The Sooners beat Kansas City 89-67 just three days after taking down former conference foe Oklahoma State on Saturday. The win marked OU’s fifth in its last six games.

Oklahoma improved to 8-3 with the victory, while Kansas City fell to 2-10.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Quick start for Sooners’ stars

The Sooners were able to put the game out of reach early, thanks largely to Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack.

Brown scored 14 points in the first half while Pack logged 13, allowing OU to lead 54-27 at the break. Brown and Pack alone had as many points combined as the Roos’ entire squad.

The Sooners shot 54.7 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. They forced the Roos to commit seven turnovers, while Oklahoma turned the ball over just once. Oklahoma also outscored Kansas City 22-6 in the paint.

"I feel like we've learned how to come out with that intensity," Brown said. "I think now, with this group, we're just learning how to maintain that."

With the Sooners holding such a commanding lead at halftime, Brown and Pack weren’t asked to do too much in the second half. Still, Brown and Pack finished the game with 21 and 15 points, respectively.

As a team, Oklahoma shot 50 percent from the floor and collected 42 rebounds. Eleven different Sooners entered Tuesday’s game.

Sophomore guard exits with injury

Guard Dayton Forsythe, a sophomore, exited the contest with an apparent ankle injury. Forsythe played only two minutes in Tuesday’s game before suffering his injury.

Forsythe returned to the bench in the second half wearing street clothes. He entered Tuesday's game playing through an ankle injury.

OU coach Porter Moser revealed after the game that he rolled his other ankle.

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"He turned the other one," Moser said. "He's just so tough, and he plays so hard, and we've got to get him healthy."

Forsythe, who hails from Dale, OK, entered Tuesday’s game averaging 5.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. His biggest game of the season thus far came against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, when Forsythe logged 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

As a freshman in 2024-25, Forsythe averaged 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1 assist, and he also shot 44.9 percent on 3-pointers. 

Strong minutes from freshman

Freshman big man Kai Rogers saw his biggest role yet in the win.

Rogers played a career-high 15 minutes and finished the game with four points on 2-of-3 shooting. He also registered five rebounds and an assist.

"It's been intentional, trying to get him more minutes," Moser said. "He had his moments again tonight that were nice. With him, it's just not thinking and playing with motor. Those are valuable minutes. He's been trending upward."

Rogers played single-digit minutes in five of OU’s first seven games, but his role has increased lately. He scored four points in 11 minutes against Arizona State on Dec. 6 before playing 13 minutes against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

A Wisconsin native, Rogers was a consensus 4-star prospect in the Class of 2025. He chose Oklahoma over offers from Iowa State and SMU.