OU basketball collapses in SEC home opener vs Texas A&M as Sooners squander 18-point lead

Posted by Admin January 9, 2025 Basketball

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NORMAN — The vibes were good for the Sooners. Brycen Goodine was hot. OU led by 18.

Then Oklahoma got sloppy offensively and Zhuric Phelps got hot.

True freshman guard Jeremiah Fears missed a key free throw attempt that would’ve put Oklahoma up two points with 29 seconds left before Phelps knocked down a massive 3 with 19 seconds remaining to put the Aggies up two.

Duke Miles missed a jumper with two seconds on the clock and Sam Godwin committed a loose ball foul.

“We would’ve liked to have played off two feet and kicked it a little bit early,” Moser said postgame. “Duke makes big plays but that was an off-balance shot. It wasn’t we were hoping, we would’ve wanted a better shot.”

The No. 9 Aggies stormed back from an 18-point deficit to overcome Goodine’s electric shooting night as No. 16 Oklahoma dropped its second consecutive game in a 80-78 loss on Wednesday night. Texas A&M was without its leading scorer Wade Taylor IV, who was listed out due to injury.

The Aggies outscored OU 50-39 in the second half.

The Sooners committed a season-high 18 turnovers and Phelps stepped up in Taylor’s absence and finished with 34 points on 11 for 25 shooting in 33 minutes.

“That was the storyline,” Moser said. “They had 30 points off turnovers. We get a lead and then we came out of a timeout and just threw a one-handed interception. They did a great job. They turned all the turnovers into points.”

Oklahoma went over six minutes without a made field goal from the 8:25 left in the second half to the 1:51 mark.

“We had momentum in the first half,” Goodine said. “I don’t know if we let up but we’ve got to make sure we finish games. Teams are too good. It’s really frustrating because we were up.”

Here are two other takeaways from the game:

The Lloyd Noble Center erupted for the first time this season.

The two-thirds filled crowd took to their feet after Brycen Goodine found his spot on the perimeter with his hands ready to catch a potential pass.

Surely Texas A&M wasn’t going to leave him wide open again.

Surely Goodine, who hadn’t scored more than 12 points in an entire game this season, wasn’t going to drill another one.

Wrong.

Goodine hit nothing but the bottom of the net once more for his fifth 3 in less than four minutes on the floor and the LNC fans were boisterous. Less than a minute later, Goodine knocked down his sixth 3.

“Brycen had a hot, heat-up performance from 3,” Moser said. “I don’t know if he hit the rim. It’s a shame that went in vein to a loss.”

Goodine finished with a season-high 34 points and made 9 of his 11 3-point attempts off the bench.

His nine 3s is tied for the third-most by an OU player in a game. Trae Young once had 10. Brent Price’s 11 is the all-time record. Goodine’s 34 points were the most by a Sooner since Trae Young dropped 44 against Baylor in 2018.

Sooners coach Porter Moser has warned all season that the Fairfield transfer could get hot from range at any point. After all, he dropped 40 points with eight three-point makes against Siena last season.

“It felt good, my teammates were obviously looking for me when I started catching fire,” Goodine said.

OU is Goodine’s fourth team in his sixth-year collegiate career. He spent one season at Syracuse, two seasons at Providence and two seasons at Fairfield.

Goodine was magical. The Sooners’ poor play in the second half spoiled it his night.

“We’re very fortunate to win,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said.

Jeremiah Fears, who has been double-teamed by Alabama and Texas A&M defenders for stretches the past two games, showed some more freshman struggles in the first half.

He had just two points in a mere eight first-half minutes.

“He’s a young kid but he’s one of the most talented and hardest workers in the program,” senior forward Sam Godwin said. “Obviously, as a teammate, we’re going to try to keep his head up and he’s done so many good things for us this year. Today might not have been his best game but we wouldn’t be in this position without him.”

Fears knocked down a 3 in the second and finished the game with 13 points. Fears missed a key free throw that would’ve put the Sooners up two before the Aggies’ late 3.

“This is only my sixth year in the conference, and we played less games than any Power 5 team in the country in the COVID season,” Williams said. “And there’s been some really talented players, but he has the highest usage rate in the SEC and there’s been a lot of one and done guys that we’ve competed against, none of which, from a perimeter standpoint, have ever had the usage rate he has.

“And so just transparently, I know they’re a mirror opponent. I don’t think you can let zero make every decision, because if you do, they’re going to go 13-1. That’s my opinion.”

Next, the Sooners travel to face Georgia at 5 p.m. Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia. The Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Kentucky 82-69 on Tuesday.

OU will face Texas A&M one more time this season at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at Reed Arena on SEC Network.

“This is the best league in college basketball,” Godwin said. “Nobody’s going to go undefeated. Obviously, it sucks. It hurts like hell to lose that game but we’re going to play them again in three weeks. Every game is a Quad 1 opportunity so it’s important everyone stays together and we’ll get it figured out.”