The Oklahoma Sooners get to keep playing into March, even beyond tomorrow.
The 14 seed Sooners took out 11 seed Georgia 81-75 in the first round of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night in Nashville, Tennessee. The win not only sent OU to the second round of its first SEC tournament, but according to all projections, also punched the Sooners' ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners started the day as one of the first four teams in the field of 68, but most experts believed OU could still use another win to clinch things. According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, OU's win escalated its NCAA Tournament chances to 90%, compared to 65% if the Sooners lost.
During the broadcast with eight minutes left, OU coach Porter Moser was overheard reminding his team in the huddle late in the game what was on the line, and his team clearly got the message.
In his March Madness debut, freshman Jeremiah Fears looked like the future NBA Draft lottery pick he is, but certainly not like the 18-year-old he is. Fears led all scorers with 29 points, plus six rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Fears made some rookie mistakes early with five turnovers in the first half, but then he didn't cough the ball up once in the second half during crunch time. He also made clutch free throws, going 9-for-12 from the stripe.
Mohamed Wague also stepped up while getting only his second start of the season with senior forward Sam Godwin missing a second consecutive game because of a knee injury. Wague put up 12 points and nine rebounds. He played 28 minutes through constant cramps while observing Ramadan and not having any food all day until it was finally dark outside Bridgestone Arena.
Senior forward Jalon Moore also reached double digits with 14 points.
With no more worry of their NCAA Tournament fate, the Sooners will play 6 seed Kentucky on Thursday, again in the last game of the day. OU took the Wildcats down to the wire just a few weeks ago in Norman before Sooner-turned-Wildcat Otega Oweh made the game-winning shot with six seconds left to give Kentucky an 83-82 victory.