Oklahoma seemingly had everything well under control for the first 35 minutes of its men's basketball game at No. 15 Vanderbilt on Saturday...until, almost in a flash, it didn't.
Despite never trailing in the game and holding a 21-point advantage with under five minutes to go, it took a pair of game-winning free throws by the Sooners' Xzayvier Brown with just five seconds left in regulation before Oklahoma could claim a 92-91 victory and end a nine-game losing streak. Another loss would have tied the longest losing streak in program history at 10.
Sooners nearly blow massive lead but escape Vanderbilt with top-25 win
The Sooners scored 92 points and shot 53.8 %, their best offensive performance against 11 SEC opponents this season and more than good enough to win the game. The reason they almost didn't was the same culprit that has plagued this team all season and led to OU's nine consecutive losses in SEC conference play and 12 overall after starting out 11-3.
Offense has never really been the problem in 2025-26, although periods of scoring inconsistency have exacerbated the problem. Inability to get stops on the defensive end, particularly in preventing second-chance points, has been the Sooners' Achilles Heel this entire season. Oklahoma sits at the bottom of the SEC in deficiency rating and ranks 250th out of 365 Division-I teams in that category, according to teamrankings.com.
The Oklahoma defense gave up 57 second-half points as Vanderbilt outscored the Sooners 57-44 in the second 20 minutes, and 32 of those points were scored in the final five minutes when the Commodores managed to cut a 21-point deficit down to a single point. Had the game lasted a minute or two longer or gone into overtime, the momentum had definitely shifted to Vanderbilt.
With 4:59 to go in the game, the Sooners (12-12, 2-9) held an 80-59 lead over Vanderbilt. At that point, it appeared fairly certain that Oklahoma had full command of the game and was finally going to finish out a game with a win and snap a lengthy month-long, nine-game losing streak.
While the Sooners and their fans were feeling pretty good about the beleaguered team's chances to come away with an elusive victory -- certainly more so than they had at any point since a Jan. 3 home win over Ole Miss -- somebody forgot to tell Vanderbilt, which had lost only three games all season, it was time to wave the white flag.
Over the next three minutes, OU personal fouls sent the Commodores to the free-throw line nine times, where they proceeded to make eight of nine to go along with a pair of field goals. During that short span, Vanderbilt had scored 13 points to just four by the Sooners, and the once seemingly insurmountable lead was down to 12 points, 84-72, and looking vulnerable.
Shades of deja vu were starting to creep into the minds of all OU fans watching this game. The game clock had ticked down under two minutes, but certainly a 12-point advantage was enough to get the Sooners to the finish line, especially in a game in which Oklahoma had never trailed.
The Commodores continued to whittle away at the deficit. Aided by a couple of critical OU turnovers and a pair of missed free throws by the Sooners and coupled with a pair of Vandy three-pointers, plus a four-point play, the OU lead was down to a gut-wrenching three points with 29 seconds to play. All of a sudden, the game had been flipped totally on its head.
Oklahoma's Jadon Jones made one of two free throws to stretch the lead to four, and one of two free throws by Dayton Forsythe made it 90-85 with 10 seconds remaining. Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner countered, however, with a long three-pointer, and the OU advantage was now down to just two points with five ticks left in regulation.
Brown was fouled on the Sooners' ensuing inbounds play. The SEC's best foul shooter stepped up and calmly knocked down both charity shots, which ultimately sealed the win. Tanner banked a meaningless long-range, three-point shot as the buzzer sounded to finish out the scoring with Oklahoma hanging on for the win.
Vanderbilt outscored the Sooners 32-12 in the final five minutes after Oklahoma had gone ahead 80-59. The incredulous comeback was led by Tanner, who scored 26 of his game- and career-high 37 points in the second half and 16 in the final five minutes. Tanner's second-half performance was the single reason Vanderbilt was able to stay in this game and make it as close as it was at the final buzzer.
Former Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis led the Oklahoma charge early, scoring nine of the Sooners' first 11 points and 14 of the first 18 as OU jumped out to a 24-8 lead in the first seven-and-a-half minutes. Vanderbilt was able to cut the deficit to four points a couple of times before the half ended, but the Sooners were able to stretch the advantage back to 14 points, 48-34, at the break.
The Sooners began the second half the same way they started the game -- with an opening 13-6 burst and twice stretched the lead to 21 points by the midway point in the second half.
Oklahoma's 14-point halftime lead was its second largest of the season (the Sooners led Oral Roberts 42-24 in a 95-71 win back in late November.
The Sooners earn a week off before returning to action against the Georgia Bulldogs at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.