Oklahoma Surges to Beat South Carolina, Advance in SEC Tournament

A slow start on Wednesday didn’t end the Sooners’ season.

Oklahoma overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to beat South Carolina 86-74 in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville. OU’s win avenges its nine-point road loss to the Gamecocks in January.

Oklahoma improved to 18-14 overall with the win, while South Carolina finished its season 13-18, assuming the Gamecocks are not invited to compete in any postseason tournaments.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

Mid-game surge elevates Sooners

Early on, the Gamecocks were hot and the Sooners were not. South Carolina made eight 3-pointers over the first 16 minutes of the game and led by 13 at one point.

But right before halftime, Oklahoma caught fire.

The Sooners outscored the Gamecocks 11-2 in the last four minutes of the first half and went to halftime tied 42-42. Oklahoma took its first lead since the opening minutes upon returning from the break and slowly built on its advantage.

Over seven minutes in the middle of the game, the Sooners went on a 23-5 run, paving the way for their 12-point victory.

Senior guard Nijel Pack led Oklahoma in scoring with 24 points. He went 7-of-14 from the floor and made five of his 10 three-point attempts.

Pack, Tae Davis, Derrion Reid and Xzayvier Brown combined for 76 of Oklahoma’s 86 points.

OU limits star SC guard

Though South Carolina has been among the worst teams in the SEC, Meechie Johnson has been one of the league’s most reliable players.

The Sooners, though, neutralized the Gamecocks’ standout guard.

Johnson posted an inefficient 3-of-15 clip from the field. He also went 1-of-9 on his three-point attempts.

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The senior finished Wednesday’s First Round contest with 14 points, and seven of those came from the free-throw line.

Johnson entered the game averaging 17.3 points, 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 33.3 percent on 3-pointers.

Survive and (maybe) dance

The Sooners needed a win on Wednesday to keep any hopes of reaching the NCAA Tournament alive, and they got that.

OU will now battle Texas A&M, the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament, in the second round on Thursday. The Sooners fell to the Aggies twice during the regular season, but the losses were decided by just a combined 11 points.

Bracketologists have differing opinions about Oklahoma.

CBSSports’ bracketology had OU as its first team out in its projected field, released prior to Wednesday’s games. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Oklahoma in the “next four out” moments before the Sooners tipped off against the Gamecocks.

With Texas A&M ranked No. 43 in the NET — used heavily by the NCAA Tournament selection committee — an Oklahoma win over the Aggies would go down as a “quad-one” victory, which would dramatically boost the Sooners’ at-large chances.

If OU were to defeat the Aggies, the Sooners would get another opportunity for a quad-one win against Arkansas in the quarterfinals on Friday.

OU fans should also root for other bubble teams to lose in their conference tournaments. On Wednesday, several teams on the bubble — Texas, SMU, Indiana, Cincinnati and West Virginia — bowed out of their conference tourneys.

There’s still plenty of uncertainty about where Oklahoma stands. But Wednesday’s victory did nothing but help the Sooners’ chances to make it to the Big Dance.