Two streaks continued on Saturday with Georgia defeating 17th-ranked Oklahoma 72-62 in SEC men's basketball action.
The Sooners (13-3, 0-3) are still seeking their first SEC win, now having lost their first three conference games. Meanwhile, Georgia extended its win streak at home to 13 games and earned its 14th win of the season with the 10-point win over Oklahoma. It was also the Bulldogs' second-straight win over a ranked team.
A capacity crowd at close to 10,500 fans was in attendance, including former Oklahoma star Trae Young, whose game in Atlanta was cancelled because of snow and ice in the capital city, as fans were still fired up over Georgia's upset win over No. 6 Kentucky earlier in the week.
OU overcame a slow start on the road at Georgia on Saturday. After falling behind 17-7 early, the Sooners responded with a 29-16 run the remainder of the half to take a 36-33 advantage to the locker room at halftime.
What momentum the Sooners had going into halftime was quickly lost coming out in the second half. Oklahoma missed its first six shots of the second half. Less than three minutes had gone by in the second period when Georgia had regained the lead, 39-36.
The contest remained close for the next seven minutes. Oklahoma's last lead in the game, 50-49, came with 10:49 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs gradually pulled away from there, with the Sooners scoring just 12 points over the final 10 minutes.
Saturday's game was just the second ever meeting between Oklahoma and Georgia on the hardwood. The Sooners won the only other game, 83-80, played on Christmas Day in 1987 as part of the Chaminade Christmas Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
OU will next go for its first SEC win when the Sooners entertain chief rival Texas on Wednesday night in Norman.
Here are three takeaways that tell the story of Oklahoma's loss at Georgia:
1. Disparity in free throws fuels Sooners' downfall
Oklahoma leads the SEC in free-throw percentage, but the Sooners shot just nine free throws against Georgia. By contrast, OU committed a season-high 28 fouls. That sent Georgia to the charity stripe for 37 free-throw attempts. The Bulldogs made 27 of them.
That's a disparity of 20 points the Sooners allowed at the free-throw line, more than enough to have changed the outcome of the game.
2. OU's worst shooting game of season
After Oklahoma had taken a 50-49 lead midway through the second half, the Sooners managed just three field goals and a free throw over the next seven minutes. This, in essence, was a microcosm of the Sooners' woes in this game, in addition to being whistled for a season-high in personal fouls.
Oklahoma shot just 31% in the second half and ended the game with a season-low shooting percentage of 38.1%. The Sooners also shot a season-low 25.9% (7 of 27) from 3-point range.
Jalen Moore was the scoring leader for the Sooners with 20 points. Duke Miles and Kobe Elvis, who failed to score in OU's previous game against Texas A&M, had 14 points apiece.
3. Jeremiah Fears a no-show offensively
Coming into the game with Georgia, OU freshman Jeremiah Fears had scored in double digits in all 16 Oklahoma games and was leading the Sooners, averaging 17.6 points a game. Fears scored just two points on Saturday, and that came in the opening half, going 1-for-11 from the field.
Fears was 0-for-4 in 3-ball attempts. Whether is was Georgia's defensive pressure or just a bad shooting game for Fears, the Sooners absolutely need more than two points from the talented freshman to win.