OU Basketball: Oklahoma falls in Heartbreaker at Ole Miss

Oklahoma once again found itself in a familiar position: needing a crucial win to keep their NCAA Tournament chances alive, only to fall short one again.

Even though the Sooners overcame a nine-point deficit in the final minutes and led in the final seconds, it was not to be as Ole Miss escaped with an 87-84 victory that all but puts OU's postseason hopes on ice for the fourth year in a row.

The challenge was a tall task for Porter Moser's bunch as they came into the SJB Pavilion looking for their first road win since beating Arkansas on Jan. 25.

Dayton Forsythe had a career day and Duke Miles was almost unstoppable late, but the Rebels avoided catastrophe when Miles' steal and 75-foot heave at the buzzer clanked off the bottom of the backboard.

The Sooners return to Norman on Wednesday for Senior Night where they will take on the Missouri Tigers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday's loss:

Weathering the Early Storm

For Oklahoma, the message in the first half was all about weathering the early storm. Ole Miss caused five Sooner turnovers in the first five minutes, but OU was able to limit the damage. The Rebel defense did an excellent job of keeping the Oklahoma offense from ever getting comfortable and allowing them to establish their game plan.

Ole Miss also came out red hot in the first 10 minutes of the game offensively. The Rebels made five of their first eight 3-pointers in the first half but were held to only made three 3-pointers in the second half.

Oklahoma found themselves down by as much as 11 points in the first half but was able to fight and claw their way back into the game as the Sooners trailed 39-38 at the break.

Forysyth and Miles Bring OU Back

Dayton Forsythe had his most impressive game of the season so far as he was the team's leading scorer on the afternoon with a career-high 25 points.

Forsythe, who scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half, hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range and was 7-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

Duke Miles also was huge for Oklahoma in the final four minutes, where he exposed the Rebels' defense with slippery drivds to the basket and tough finishes to make enough clutch shots to give the Sooners a chance to win the game.

Miles was 3-of-4 from the field and added four assists in the second half to finish with 15 points in the contest. He gave OU the lead three times with baskets in the closing minutes.

Miles and and Forsythe both had a chance to add to their total and win it at the end but came up short.

A layup by Miles gave OU an 84-82 lead with 31 seconds to go. After Sean Pedulla's go-ahead 3 with 18 seconds left, both Porter Moser and Ole Miss' Chris Beard called back-to-back timeouts as OU inbounded. Miles drove to the basket, but was stopped and kicked out to Forsythe, who drove the baseline and absorbed some contact that launched him under the basket, where he fired up a desperation shot over the backboard — an illegal shot.

The turnover gave the ball back to Ole Miss, and Matthew Murrell made two free throws to essentially seal it with three seconds to play.

Still, Miles was able to deflect the Rebels' inbounds pass, and Mo Wague gathered and fed back to Miles, who took two steps up the sideline and launched a prayer that came up just inches short.

Jeremiah Fears had 13 points and seven assists for the Sooners, while Sam Godwin scored 12.

Ole Miss was led by 26 points from Pedulla.

Rebounding Battle

The key to the game for both teams was going to be who was going to win the rebounding battle.

Both Oklahoma and Ole Miss sit at the bottom of the SEC in rebounds, so both teams felt pretty good about where they stood going in. It allowed both teams to believe they had a chance to win the ballgame.

Ole Miss won the rebounding margin 29-28.

In a game that featured 12 lead changes and six ties, the margin for victory was slim on either side.

Another area where Ole Miss dominated that proved the difference: the Rebels were 17-of-22 from the free throw line in the second half, while OU was 10-of-11.