For the second time in less than a week, Oklahoma held a lead with 30 seconds or less to go and couldn't finish the job. As a result, the light on the Sooners' NCAA Tournament chances might have just gone dark.
Earlier in the week, it was a former Oklahoma player, playing now for Kentucky, who did the Sooners in at the end. On Saturday, it was a native of the Sooner State, Sean Pedulla from Edmond, who flipped the switch, turning a potential Oklahoma win into another heartbreaking defeat.
And to make matters seem even worse, OU didn't even offer Pedulla out of high school despite playing in the same state.
Pedulla drained a clutch, 23-foot 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go -- one of five he made in the game -- that erased a two-point Oklahoma lead and provided the winning margin in a dramatic 87-84 Ole Miss victory.
While Pedulla, a Virginia Tech transfer playing his final college season at Ole Miss, led all scorers with 26 points, it was another native Oklahoman who kept the Sooners in this game with several big shots in the second half.
Dayton Forsythe scored a career-high 25 points coming off the bench for the Sooners. The freshman from Dale, Oklahoma, made seven of nine shots, including four of five from 3-point range. He also was seven of seven at the free-throw line.
The game started off slowly for both teams. The first points -- a 3-pointer by Ole Miss senior guard Dre Davis -- came with two and a half minutes gone in the first half. It was also a sloppy start by Oklahoma, which committed three turnovers in the first five minutes.
The Sooners trailed the entire first half, but found their shooting rhythm late in the half and pulled within one, 39-38, at the break.
Ole Miss threatened at several points in the second half to break the game wide open, but Oklahoma kept fighting and refused to go away. The Sooners took their first lead in the game, 80-79, on a field goal by Duke Miles with 2:21 remaining in the game.
Miles made an off-balance layup with 31 seconds left to give OU an 84-82 advantage, setting up the final dagger to the heart by the Ole Miss sniper Pedulla.
The Sooners had a chance in the closing seconds to convert, but Forsythe was forced to put up a shot that went over the backboard from behind, which was an infraction. Oklahoma's other star freshman, Jeremiah Fears, was whistled for a flagrant foul on the inbound pass by Ole Miss. That awarded the Rebels two free throws and the ball out of bounds
Ole Miss added the two free throws, expanding the winning margin to three points. The Sooners managed to steal the inbound pass and Miles launched a desperation shot from 74 feet away that hit the backboard before bouncing harmlessly off. Game over.
Oklahoma has two regular-season games remaining -- vs. Missouri on Wednesday and at Texas next weekend. The Sooners lost games to both teams earlier in the season and probably have to win both to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Three takeaways that tell the story of this game:
1. Dayton Forsythe has breakout game
OU coach Porter Moser has said all season that true freshman Dayton Forsythe brings spirit to the Sooners coming off the bench. On Saturday, he not only provided a giant boost off the bench spirit-wise, but with scoring production. His 26 points led all scorers. His previous season-high was 14 points, and he entered the game with Ole Miss averaging 3.7 points.
Before Saturday, the most 3-pointers he had made in a game was two, which he had done once. He made four of five 3-point shots on Saturday. Without Forsythe's production, the Ole Miss game wouldn't have been close. That's how important his contribution was on Saturday.
2. Jalon Moore a no-show
Oklahoma's leading scorer on the season, Jalon Moore, was nowhere to be found offensively in this game.
Moore entered the game averaging 17.1 points. He took just two shots in the game in 26 minutes of action, and his only two points came on free throws. He was whistled for two personal fouls.
The Sooners needed more production from their top scorer.
Moser said after the game that Moore injured his knee during the first half and will be evaluated when the team returns to Norman.
3. Turnovers...turnovers...turnovers
Turnovers have been the Sooners' Achilles heal all season, and on Saturday, they were going up against one of the best ball-thievery teams in the country.
Oklahoma's first offensive possession of the game was a ball thrown out of bounds, and the Sooners committed a trio of turnovers in the opening minutes.
The Sooners had nine turnovers in the first half and ended up with 15 for the game. Ole Miss scored 16 points off of Oklahoma turnovers. Ole Miss committed just nine turnovers in the game.