Oklahoma's SEC Tournament run ends with heartbreaker against Arkansas

The Sooners entered Friday night’s game against Arkansas right on the cut line, and they will remain there as they wait until Sunday to hear their fate after losing a heartbreaker to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament, bringing their magical run to a close.

SEC Player of the Year Darius Acuff opened the half on a heater, but Oklahoma managed to weather it and lead 11-10 at the first media timeout. Then the Sooners began to build some momentum.

Nijel Pack was taking his twos and quickly got up to nine points to give Oklahoma a 29-24 lead, and the Sooners took that five-point lead into the final media timeout.

Acuff remained a problem for Oklahoma, as he hit a big three-pointer before halftime to build some Arkansas momentum, making it a 39-37 halftime score with Oklahoma in front. The Sooners hit just one three-pointer in that half but still held the lead.

It was a battle between Acuff and Pack, as Acuff had 21 points at halftime and Pack had 16 to lead the Sooners. Additionally, Tae Davis had eight points and Mohamed Wague had six.

The Sooners played well in the first half, especially defensively, but the Razorbacks had momentum going into the break. It was also clear that Xzayvier Brown, who had just two first-half points, was going to have to get going.

The Razorbacks came out hot and started to build momentum, leading 54-50, but the Sooners kept fighting and continued doing a great job of answering runs.

At the 10:32 mark, Oklahoma jumped back in front with a 58-57 lead as Derrion Reid was up to 12 points in the second half alone. The game then continued to be a street fight as Oklahoma led 63-61 with 7:46 left to play.

Then Arkansas began to build momentum again, jumping out to a 71-67 lead with 4:25 left to play as the Sooners took a timeout. Acuff continued his brilliance and drilled a three-pointer to give Arkansas a 76-69 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Tae Davis then drilled a big three-pointer to make it a 76-72 Arkansas lead with 1:30 remaining. After that, Billy Richmond made a free throw to move Arkansas to a 77-72 lead.

Then Wague made a free throw, and Davis grabbed the rebound off his missed free throw and made two more free throws to cut it to 77-75 with 53 seconds remaining.

However, Acuff had ice in his veins and made a contested jumper to give the Razorbacks a 79-75 lead. After a few made layups and a missed free throw, Pack had a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation and got a good look from deep, but just missed it and Arkansas went on to win, ending Oklahoma’s run.

This 82-79 loss on Friday ends the six-game win streak and leaves Oklahoma sweating on Selection Sunday as they remain right on the cut line. Oklahoma is now 19-15 on the season after going 2-1 in Nashville.

The main reason this game resulted in a loss: Acuff. The soon-to-be lottery pick dropped 37 points, five assists, and five rebounds on 11-21 shooting from the field, 5-9 shooting from deep, and 10-12 shooting from the free throw line.

Notes

– Nijel Pack once again led the way for Oklahoma with 19 points on 6-15 shooting from the field and 2-5 shooting from deep in 36 minutes. Pack was incredible in the first half, but once Arkansas started face-guarding him they turned his water off as he scored just three points in the second half.

– Tae Davis totaled 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists on 7-14 shooting from the field and 1-2 shooting from deep in 27 minutes. It was another impressive night from Davis as he made multiple clutch shots to keep the Sooners alive.

– Derrion Reid scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds on 6-11 shooting from the field and 1-3 shooting from behind the arc in 32 minutes. Reid scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half.

– Mohamed Wague notched 13 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes on 4-7 shooting from the field and 5-7 shooting from the free throw line. It was yet another nice night from Wague where he managed to stay out of foul trouble.

– Xzayvier Brown had a bit of a rough night, going 2-10 from the field and 0-3 from three-point range to score just four points in 31 minutes. He did, however, post eight assists and seven rebounds. Oklahoma could have used more scoring from him, but he facilitated well.

– Oklahoma’s bench had a solid night. Dayton Forsythe recorded five points on 2-3 shooting from the field in 13 minutes. Kirill Elatontsev played 11 minutes and scored four points with three rebounds on 2-2 shooting from the field. Jadon Jones played 21 minutes, grabbed six rebounds, but did not score on 0-3 shooting from the field.

– It was a rough night from the Sooners from behind the arc as they went 4-16 (25%) from three-point range. Three games in three nights most likely had something to do with that.

– Now they will await a decision on whether Oklahoma gets a bid to the NCAA Tournament or if they are once again one of the first teams left out. The Sooners end the season going 8-3 in their last 11 games, but their nine-game losing streak earlier in conference play could haunt them.

Still, the two wins in Nashville leave Oklahoma with a chance on Sunday, but they will have to hope for no bid stealers and for the committee to pick them over the likes of SMU and Texas.

Not a subscriber? Join OUInsider now and get your first week for just $1. No, this deal is NOT too good to be true! Take advantage today and get the market’s best Oklahoma football and recruiting intel!

Click HERE to subscribe today!