OU Basketball: No. 1 Auburn Dominates Oklahoma in Second Half, Sooners Are 3-6 in SEC

The game was in reach for the Sooners at halftime, but the Tigers played like the No. 1 team in the nation in the second half.

Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma kept within reach of No. 1 Auburn for the first half of Tuesday’s road game. But the Tigers showed why they’re the nation’s top-ranked squad in the second half.

They used their size, quick hands and home-court advantage to beat the Sooners 98-70. Auburn outscored Oklahoma 54-36 in the second half after holding just a 10-point lead at halftime.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:

Tigers control the paint

All of the Sooners’ (16-6, 3-6 SEC) recent struggles down low came to light against Auburn.

Auburn finished the game with 11 blocks; Oklahoma didn’t record one. Tigers center Dylan Cardwell ended the contest with six swats.

The Sooners couldn’t keep up with the Tigers’ size in the paint, particularly while defending 6-foot-7 guard Chad Baker-Mazara and 6-foot-10 forward Johni Broome. Baker-Mazara and Broome tied for a game-high 15 points, and three other Tigers — Denver Jones, Chaney Johnson and Tahaad Pettiford — also finished in double figures.

The Tigers used their quick hands in and around the paint for steals, too, leading OU 9-2 in that category. Auburn also outrebounded Oklahoma 38-28.

Slow game from Fears

Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears’ up-and-down first season in the SEC continued against Auburn.

Fears, the two-time SEC Freshman of the Week, finished the game with 10 points. That was tied for the third-highest point total for OU, but Fears did so inefficiently, shooting 1-of-8 from the field.

Fears was also awarded a technical foul for a verbal incident with Baker-Mazara midway through the second. That happened a few minutes after Fears lightly elbowed Baker-Mazara in the back while running in transition.

Tuesday’s slow game for Fears followed up a productive day against Vanderbilt on Saturday, when the guard notched 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The game before that, a loss to Texas A&M, Fears went scoreless.

In SEC wins — the Sooners have three — Fears is averaging 17.7 points per game. But in OU’s six conference losses, the guard is averaging just 10.2.

Fears, who turned 18 in the fall, reclassified to the Class of 2024 before the season to be eligible for the Sooners.

Dayton Forsythe led Oklahoma with 13 points, just ahead of Jalon Moore with 11. Kobe Elvis added 10 points.

No harm, no foul

Tuesday’s game got ugly in the second half, but the loss doesn’t hurt the Sooners’ NCAA Tournament resume.

Auburn, college basketball’s only one-loss team, is No. 1 in both the AP Top 25 and the NET rankings. The Tigers were 17-point betting favorites before the game.

Needless to say, not many people expected OU to beat the No. 1 team in the nation on the road — and the selection committee won’t punish the Sooners for that. Now with the conference season halfway over, OU will play seven ranked opponents in its final nine regular-season games. 

The Sooners’ second half of the SEC slate begins on Saturday against No. 4 Tennessee at home.

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