How everything went wrong for Oklahoma in a cruel buzzer-beating loss

The Oklahoma Sooners keep finding different ways to lose and hitting new lows on the hardwood in the process.

With Oklahoma leading 81-78 and 5.6 seconds remaining in the game, Missouri reserve Trent Pierce launched a desperation arching 3-point shot 37 feet away from the basket that hit nothing but the inside of the net and sent the game into overtime.

Then five minutes later, it was deja vu all over again. A short jump shot by the Sooners' Xzayvier Brown with just 4.8 seconds left in overtime put OU up by two, 87-85. The ball was quickly inbounded to Missouri's Mark Mitchell, who advanced the ball down court, pulled up just short of the 3-point line and let loose of what turned out to be the game-winning shot as the buzzer sounded.

The two 3-pointers by Pierce and Mitchell were there only made triples of the game.

Missouri fans rushed the court at Mizzou Arena in celebration of the 88-87 win that left the Sooners on the short end of the scoreboard for a sixth straight game, the longest winless drought in head coach Porter Moser's five seasons at Oklahoma. The last time an OU men's team dropped as many as six games in a row was in 2017-18 in Trae Young's one and only season as a Sooner.

Oklahoma has lost eight straight games at Mizzou Arena. The last time the Sooners won on the road at Missouri was in February 2001.

You could see the disappointment written all over Moser's face as he and his team left the court after suffering double heartbreak and having their heart figuratively ripped out of their chest in a game that right up to the final tick of the clock they thought they had won.

The Sooners guard duo of Brown and Nijel Pack both came with game for the first time as a pair in a couple of weeks. The team's two leading scorers on the season combined for 44 points and seven of Oklahoma's 12 made 3-pointers.

Three Missouri players accounted for 66 of the Tigers' 88 points, led by a game-high 25 points by Mitchell. T.O. Barrett had 21 and Jayden Stone added 20. In addition to his 25-point performance, Mitchell grabbed 10 rebounds, with five coming at the offensive end.

Oklahoma dropped to 11-9 overall and 1-6 in the conference. Missouri improved to 14-6 and 4-3 in SEC action.

Oklahoma's attempt to get back on the winning track faces an incredibly difficult challenge ahead with six of the Sooners' next seven games against conference teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 in No. 21 Arkansas, No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 21 Georgia, or receiving votes in the AP poll with Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M. That stretch starts on Tuesday night at home against Arkansas.

3 telling observations from the last-second loss

Poor Sooner rebounding led to too many second-chance Missouri points

Oklahoma has done a relatively good job rebounding this season. Against Mizzou, however, the Sooners were outrebounded 41-29 and, most importantly, the deficit on the offensive glass was 17-5 in favor of the Tigers. What hurt the most, though, was Missouri scored 19 second-chance points to just three by OU.

Mizzou creates offense from defense, capitalizing on Oklahoma turnovers

Both teams were guilty of a dozen turnovers in the game, but Oklahoma's were more costly. Missouri scored 19 points off Sooner turnovers to just nine by OU off of Mizzou's floor miscues. Oklahoma has committed double-digit turnovers in just nine of 20 games this season.

OU shoots well, but too many of Missouri points were scored in close at the basket

Oklahoma had its best shooting game (26-of-54 for a field-goal percentage of 48.1) since defeating Ole Miss for its lone conference with in seven games. Unfortunately for OU, a good number of Mizzou's points (40) were scored in the paint area, where the Sooners' defense down low has been taken advantage of most of the season.

The Sooners also actually played one of their better games defensively, holding the Missouri offense to a shooting percentage of 44.6%. What's impressive about that is the Tigers lead the SEC with a FG percentage of 50.2 and have shot 50% or better in 11 of 20 games this season.