A week ago, Oklahoma men's basketball was mired in last place all by its lonesome in the SEC standings and in desperate straits, having lost nine consecutive games against conference opponents.
Seven days later after a 94-78 demolition of Georgia on Saturday, the Sooners (13-12, 3-9) have added a pair of elusive victories and moved out of the SEC cellar, a full game up on both South Carolina and LSU. But it took multiple season -bests on Saturday to get the job done.
The Sooners traveled to 15th-ranked Vanderbilt last weekend in full knowledge that if one more win eluded them it would tie a 62-year-old program record for most consecutive losses. Oklahoma was able to avoid that historic milestone, but only by a single point, 92-91, having nearly squandered a 21-point advantage with under five minutes to go in the game.
On Saturday, the OU was at home at Lloyd Noble Center entertaining a Georgia team that is the highest-scoring team in the SEC, and for a couple of weeks this season, ranked as high as No. 18 in the national rankings. The Bulldogs (17-8, 5-7) had one big factor, however, working against them in their road test in Norman. Top scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson was ruled out of the game with a shoulder injury. His 17.1 average is 11th-best in the conference.
While the Sooners were separated by just one game from their devastating nine-game losing skid, Georgia had been battling through a difficult stretch of its own. The Dawgs had lost four of their last five contests coming into the Oklahoma game.
Fire in the arena was just a prelude to what we saw from both teams offensively, albeit in different halves
Saturday's game was delayed in the opening moments when a fire broke out in a popcorn machine on the upper concourse of the LNC. The fire was quickly extinguished, but the game was stopped for a brief period to allow the resulting smoke to dissipate.
Georgia-Oklahoma is in a delay after a concession stand CAUGHT ON FIRE 😳🔥pic.twitter.com/IqmEp7lAE7
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 14, 2026
Throughout the first half on Saturday, it appeared the Bulldogs were going to be just fine without their leader on the court. From the start, it seemed as if the arena fire incident was inciting a fire of its own in the Georgia shotmaking.
The Bulldogs made an incredible 15 of their first 17 field-goal attempts and shot 70.8% in the opening 20 minutes. Despite that, OU managed to weather the storm. There were 14 lead changes in the first half with neither team holding more than a six-point advantage.
The first half ended with Georgia ahead by two, 43-41, and the Dawgs went 6-1 to begin the second half, extending the lead to seven with just a minute and a half gone. That's when the momentum and offensive firepower dramatically switched sides.
Oklahoma locked down on defense and exploded on the offensive end, scoring 18 unanswered points. Five and a half minutes after trailing by seven, the Sooners held a 61-49 advantage, and they weren't done.
Oklahoma shot 67.8% in the second half (19-of-28) and 58.9% for the game. Meanwhile, after burning the nets over the first 21 minutes of the game, Georgia couldn't buy a basket over the final 19 minutes of the game, cooling off to 38.2% and being outscored 53-35.
While Georgia was doing everything it could to run the Sooners out of the arena in the opening half,
Oklahoma redshirt freshman Kuol Atak almost single handedly prevented that from happening. The 6-foot-9 reserve forward hit four of his game-high six three-pointers in the opening half, keeping the Sooners close. He added a couple more in the second half
There were a number of factors that contributed to Oklahoma's best overall performance against an SEC opponent this season. The 94 points was the most scored against an SEC opponent this season. The Sooners scored over 90 points in the win a week ago against Vanderbilt, the eighth time overall they have eclipsed the 90-point level this season.
Oklahoma's 58.9% percentage for the game was the team's best against an SEC opponent this season and second-best overall. All nine players who saw action in the game for the Sooners scored at least three points, with four reaching double figures and three 18 or more. Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis led OU with 19 points. Twelve of those 19 came in the final 12:56 of the game.
The Sooners made 14 three-pointers in 25 attempts, tying their season high, with Atak and Nijel Pack combining for 10-of -13. Another prime contributor to OU posting its second consecutive SEC win was the team's collective ability to protect the ball and prevent Georgia from getting out on fast breaks, which is what the SEC's highest-scoring offense likes to do.
OU committed seven turnovers against Georgia, marking the 13th time this season the Sooners had nine or fewer turnovers in a game. The last time an OU team had that many single-digit turnover games in a season was in 1994-95.
Lack of rotational depth, and bench scoring in particular, has been an issue all season for the Sooners. Four Sooner reserves contributed 44 points in the win over Georgia. That is the best bench production all season and double the most scored by the OU reserves in any of the previous 12 conference games.
Another stiff test awaits OU on Wednesday, when it plays at Tennessee (18-7, 8-4). The Volunteers are 13-1 at home. Texas A&M, which already has a victory over the Sooners this season (83-76), comes to Norman on Saturday.