OU, Nijel Pack shooting surge powers Sooners over Auburn
In this round of seeing how the OU basketball team would respond to a gut-punch, it was for the positive.
But it is pretty easy to be positive when you make as many 3-pointers as the Sooners did and guard Nijel Pack did.
Pack simply had one of them nights as OU rolled visiting Auburn 91-79 on Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center.
His initial 3-pointer was No. 400 for his career. And guess Pack was trying to get 500 all in the same night. Exaggeration aside, he now has 405 makes from downtown, hitting six on the evening. He ended with 22 points.
It was Pack from the perimeter, and Mo Wague inside. He did the majority of his work in the first half, but it mattered in a huge way.
Wague had 14 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks all in the first 20 minutes. Wague finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and four steals.
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OU led 51-42 at halftime, punctuated by a downtown connection by Xzayvier Brown as time was expiring.
OU kept the Tigers at arms’ length the rest of the way. Despite a tremendous game from hometown boy Kevin Overton, the Tigers simply did not have their usual stars show up. Instead, sitting at 15-13, their NCAA Tournament hopes continue to bounce back and forth.
It will take a heck of a lot more, obviously, for OU to even put itself in any sort of conversation. It is not there, but another night where a reminder of what this team looked like it could have been back in December and January.
Brown had 14 points and four assists. Derrion Reid added 16 points. OU had 10 steals.
Up next
OU (14-14 overall, 4-11) has a chance to get over .500 once again. The Sooners head to Baton Rouge in what will be a very sparsely attended game. Bring your own energy. OU at LSU at 5 p.m. Saturday.
