Maybe Brycen Goodine should pretend he's always playing against the Texas A&M Aggies.
Goodine again went off against the No. 13 Aggies on Tuesday, but like last time, it didn't matter in the Oklahoma Sooners' 75-68 loss in College Station, Texas.
The loss halted what would have created a winning streak for the Sooners, and instead dropped them to 15-5, and 2-5 in SEC play and during the month of January.
For the second time this season, Goodine led the Sooners in scoring against the Aggies, this time with 24 points. He came off the bench and put up 34 in an 80-78 loss to Texas A&M on Jan. 8 in Norman. Goodine made nine 3-pointers that night and drained five on Tuesday night.
In the four games combined between his outings against the Aggies, Goodine scored 20 total points. Of the 143 total points Goodine has recorded this season, about 41% were scored against the Aggies.
Goodine's heroics were much-needed Tuesday night, though, even just to give the Sooners a chance with star freshman Jeremiah Fears contributing zero points. Only one other game in his career has Fears not reached double figures.
Leading scorer Jalon Moore was still a major contributor with 22 points.
Fears' goose egg or maybe even Goodine matching his last total against the Aggies wasn't the difference in the Sooners suffering another close loss, though. Where Texas A&M is the best in the country also happens to be the Sooners' greatest fault, and that was obvious Tuesday night.
The Aggies out-rebounded OU 47-19, over doubling the Sooners in boards. Of Texas A&M's 47 rebounds, 21 were on the offensive end of the court, compared to OU's two offensive rebounds. That helped result in 20 second-chance points for the Aggies as they won by seven.
Things only get harder from here the next two weeks for the Sooners. Texas A&M started a streak of five straight games against ranked opponents for OU.
The Sooners' best chance at notching a win during that stretch is their next against No. 24 Vanderbilt on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. Another loss Saturday, though, and the Sooners' NCAA Tournament bubble likely goes pop.