Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma basketball: Sooners outlast Ole Miss to win ESPN Tournament

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Grant Sherfield (25) tries to get past OCU's Avery Jackson (2) during a college basketball exhibition game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma City University Starts (OCU) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.Ou Men S Basketball
Oklahoma's Grant Sherfield (25) tries to get past OCU's Avery Jackson (2) during a college basketball exhibition game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma City University Starts (OCU) at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.Ou Men S Basketball /
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It’s now six wins in a row for men’s Oklahoma basketball after losing its season-opening game.

The Sooners defeated Ole Miss 59-55 on Sunday in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Florida.

Trailing 40-35 early in the second half, Oklahoma went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a two-point lead, 44-42, on a layup by Grant Sherfield with11:09 remaining. Ole Miss led 55-52 on a dunk by Myles Burns with 4:26 to go, but the Sooners finished the game on a 7-0 run to capture the victory.

Sherfield led the Sooners in scoring with a dozen points. Three other Oklahoma players reached double figures: Sam Godwin off the bench with 11, and Tanner Groves and Bijan Cortes each with 10.

Amaree Abram of Ole Miss led all scorers in the game with 17 points.

For the third consecutive game in the tournament, the Sooners shot better than 50 percent (53.5), including four of seven from behind the three-point line.

Neither team led by more than six points the entire way. The Sooners now own a 3-2 record against Ole Miss, including two consecutive wins. OU defeated the Rebels 95-72 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Next up for the Oklahoma men is a road trip to the East Coast to play Villanova as part of the 2022 Big 12/Big East Challenge.

Three takeaways from from OU’s championship win over Ole Miss:

  • Thirty-six of Oklahoma’s 59 points were scored in the paint area.
  • The Sooners made four of six three=pointers in the first half but shot just one three-ball in the second half.
  • Coming into the game with Ole Miss there was some concern about the Ole Miss rebounding strength. The Rebels were tied for 20th-best in the country with a plus-nine rebounding margin. Despite this, Oklahoma had a 26-24 advantage on the boards.
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