Sooners rally past South Carolina, advance in SEC Tournament

Oklahoma entered Wednesday night’s game on a hot streak and that continued as they avoided an early scare from South Carolina and went on to win, keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive as they advance in the SEC Tournament.

The first half started really poorly for Oklahoma, as South Carolina could not miss from behind the arc. The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead and it kept growing as they continued to make shots. With 7:03 left in the first half, the Sooners were trailing 36-23 after South Carolina made its seventh three-pointer of the half.

Things were not looking good and you just thought if Oklahoma could get it to around an eight-point deficit at halftime you would take that. But the Sooners then began to get going. One big reason was Jadon Jones’ defense on Meechie Johnson, who had four first-half assists and was killing the Sooners with his penetration.

Jones was a spark for Oklahoma off the bench, but Tae Davis was steady throughout the entire half, playing a big role in keeping the Sooners in it while South Carolina was hot. The Sooners quickly went on a 6-0 run and cut the deficit to three with 2:35 remaining in the half.

Their improved play continued as the half came to a close, as a Jones layup tied the game at 42-42 at halftime. Davis led the way with 15 first-half points, Nijel Pack had 10 points, and Derrion Reid had nine. Despite South Carolina going 8-15 (53.3%) from three and the Sooners going 3-10 (30%), it was a tie game at halftime.

The Sooners continued their impressive play, dominating the middle eight, as Pack drilled two three-pointers and Reid really got going to quickly give Oklahoma a 54-47 lead at the 15:58 mark. Reid then continued to play well as he helped push the Sooners to a 61-53 lead.

At the under-eight timeout, Oklahoma held a 70-60 lead thanks to impressive performances by Pack, Reid, and Jones, who continued to make all of the right plays. They then went on a 6-0 run and ran away with the game from there behind impressive nights from Pack, Reid, Davis, and Brown.

The Sooners won the game 86-74 and now advance to the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Notes

Nijel Pack led the way for Oklahoma with 24 points and five assists on 7-14 shooting from the field and 5-10 shooting from behind the arc. Pack was especially hot from deep in the second half and his shooting helped the Sooners build a lead.

Derrion Reid put on full display why he was a five-star and McDonald’s All-American out of high school. Reid finished with 20 points and four rebounds in 31 minutes on 6-8 shooting from the field, 2-3 shooting from behind the arc, and 6-8 shooting from the free throw line. This was one of Reid’s most impressive games of the season.

Tae Davis posted 18 points, 15 of which came in the first half. He shot 7-10 from the field and 1-2 from behind the arc in 33 minutes.

Xzayvier Brown scored 14 points on 6-7 shooting from the field with five rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes. He also shot 2-3 from behind the arc and scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half.

Mohamed Wague quietly played well. He recorded just one foul on the night and gave Oklahoma 27 minutes. He finished with three points, six rebounds, four assists, a block, and a steal.

Jadon Jones was very impressive as he had a huge impact on the game defensively. He had seven points, five rebounds, and three steals on 3-6 shooting from the field and 1-4 shooting from deep in 26 minutes.

Dayton Forsythe was scoreless on the night on 0-4 shooting from the field and 0-3 shooting from deep, but did pitch in four assists in his 20 minutes of play. Kirill Elatontsev only played one minute on the night.

The Sooners shot 30-50 (60%) from the field on the night and 11-25 (44%) from behind the arc.

Up next, 11-seed Oklahoma, now 18-14 on the season, will take on Texas A&M at approximately 8:30 on SEC Network on Thursday night. The Sooners need a win, which would be their first two-win conference tournament since 2003, if they want a shot at a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

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