NORMAN — In the heart of the basketball season, Oklahoma is grappling with a persistent Achilles’ heel: defensive rebounding. 

The Sooners won nearly every facet of Tuesday’s game against Texas A&M — field-goal percentage, 3-pointers and assists. But they couldn’t do the same on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 47-19 and losing the game 75-68.

The loss dropped Oklahoma to 2-5 in SEC play, and the Sooners are now No. 13 out of 16 SEC squads in the league’s standings.

“You ask me, like, ‘Tell me how to coach it.’ We talked like that, but the only thing that can happen is we got to keep having five guys take ownership,” OU coach Porter Moser said. “I’ll be honest with you, it wasn’t as much the check-outs as it was the trench rebounds.”

The Sooners’ rebounding struggles against the Aggies weren’t a standalone problem. 

Oklahoma is dead last in the SEC in rebounds per game, averaging 32.3. They’re nearly two full rebounds behind the 15th-ranked squad in that department, Ole Miss, which is averaging 34.2.

The Sooners are also No. 243 out of 364 teams that compete at the NCAA Division I level in rebound percentage, posting a clip of 48.6%. That’s down significantly from the 2023-24 season, when OU posted a 52.8% rating.

“We know the problems we have on the glass right now, and we just have to go get them,” freshman Dayton Forsythe said. “Once we do that, we limit them to one possession, I think we’re a really good team.”

The encouraging part for the Sooners is how well they played everywhere else on Tuesday.

OU shot 48% from the field, while the Aggies shot 38%. Oklahoma made 10 3-pointers; Texas A&M made just four. And the Sooners outpaced the Aggies 19-9 in assists.

“We’re doing some really good things, it’s just the narrative of the rebounding in the trenches, getting everybody, and the second-chance points, getting to the foul line, because that’s part of it,” Moser said. “The rebounds, they might not get a basket, but then you get a foul. Those are some things that we’re continuing to address with these guys.”

The loss broke a two-game winning streak for OU.

OU Basketball: Oklahoma Dominated on Glass, Falls to Texas A&M

The Sooners took down South Carolina and Arkansas in back-to-back games after opening their SEC slate with losses to Alabama, Texas A&M, Georgia and Texas all in a row. OU opened the 2024-25 season with 13 wins in a row, going undefeated in the non-conference portion of their schedule.

Still, the Sooners are very much alive for NCAA Tournament consideration. They currently sit No. 45 in the NET rankings, used heavily by the tourney selection committee to determine which teams make it to the Big Dance.

Moser stressed the importance of all his players — forwards and guards — to become better around the glass, thus making them a tougher team that could go deep in March.

“We did a lot of really good things, but we got pounded in the trenches (against A&M),” Moser said. “It’s hard to win when you have that rebound disparity.”