Oklahoma scored 59 second-half points and again did almost everything it could to blow a lead at home in the closing seconds, but this time the Sooners managed to hold on at the end to defeat No. 21 Mississippi State 93-87 on Saturday and break a five-game losing streak.
The Oklahoma trio of Jeremiah Fears, Jalon Moore and Sam Godwin scored 62 of the Sooners' 93 points, led by Fears' game-high 27 points, the second-best scoring output of the season by the Sooner freshman. Fifteen of Moore's 18 points came in OU's explosive second half.
Mississippi State led 37-34 at the half, but Oklahoma came out on fire in the second half and scored 21 points in the first six minutes after halftime to take a 55-51 lead. The Sooners shot a red-hot 68% (17 of 25) and seven of 13 from long range.
With 1:44 remaining in the game, Oklahoma led by 11, 87-76, and looked to have the game well in hand. But that's when things began to get sticky.
Spotty defense and subpar foul shooting by the Sooners allowed Mississippi State to crawl back within five at 89-84 with 50 seconds to go and sent chilling reminders through the highly partisan home crowd of what happened just one week ago when LSU overcame a five-point deficit with 25 seconds remaining in the game to steal a victory from the Sooners.
Claudell Harris Jr. fired in a 3-point shot from the corner, and in the blink of an eye, Oklahoma's lead was down to 90-87 with 28 seconds left on the game clock. Could the Sooners possibly be starring down deja vu all over again?
This week, the outcome was different, however. Moore and freshman Dayton Forsythe hit clutch free throws to close out the win for Oklahoma to seal the Sooners' second win over a ranked opponent and first since since beating then-No. 24 Vanderbilt on Feb. 1.
Next up for the Sooners is a midweek game at Lloyd Noble Center against No. 15 Kentucky on Wednesday.
Three takeaways from the Oklahoma victory long in coming:
1. Jeremiah Fears took over game for Oklahoma
OU freshman Jeremiah Fears, who could have been playing his senior year in high school instead of reclassifying to join the Sooners a year early, had one of his best games of the season against Mississippi State.
His 27 points was his second-best scoring game of the season, but it was the efficiency of his offensive production that made this game special. The 18-year-old shot 58% (7 of 12) from the field and was 11 of 14 at the free-throw line in 37 minutes of action. He also collected five rebounds and dished out 10 assists for a double double.
2. Sam Godwin's double-double major factor in OU's win
Senior Sam Godwin's stat line read 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting, along with 10 rebounds. It was his first double-digit game in scoring since producing 15 points in an OU loss at Alabama in the Sooners' conference season opener. Saturday's double-double was Godwin's third of the season.
3. Sooners outrebounded by 11 on offensive glass
Oklahoma has struggled in the rebounding department all season, and Saturday against Mississippi State was no exception.
The Sooners were outrebounded in total 42-31 with 20 of Mississippi State's 42 of the offensive variety. That's 12 more rebounds than the Sooners grabbed off the offensive glass (20-12). But even worse, Mississippi State cashed in its offensive rebounds for 21 points. OU scored just seven second-chance points.