Oklahoma cut a 13-point first-half deficit down to four by halftime, then went on a torrid 23-0 run to start the second half to take the wind out of Vanderbilt's sails on the way to a 30-point, 97-67 blowout on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.
The Sooners came out of the locker room at halftime a much different team than the one that trailed by four, 40-36, at the break. Over an eight-minute stretch in the first half, No. 24 Vanderbilt looked as if it was going to run away and hide from the home team.
Led by its two big guns, senior forward Jalon Moore and freshman point guard Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma came out on fire in the second half, hitting its first nine field-goal attempts, and in the matter of 6:30 to start the second half, the game went from a 42-36 advantage for Vanderbilt to 59-42 in favor of Oklahoma.
And it only got worse for the Commodores from there. The Sooners closed out the final eight minutes on a 30-10 run.
Fears led the Sooners with 21 points, one of four OU players scoring in double digits. Fifteen of Moore's 19 points came in OU's sizzling second half. Fears' freshman teammate, Dayton Forsythe, tied his season- and career-high with 14 points.
Vanderbilt's Jason Edwards and Devin McGlockton combined for 43 of the Commodores' 67 points.
With the win, Oklahoma improved to 16-5 overall and 3-5 in the conference. The Sooners have won three of their last four. Vanderbilt fell to 16-5 and 4-4 in SEC play.
The Sooners are next in action on Tuesday, when they go on the road to play No. 1 Auburn in the third of five consecutive conference games against ranked teams. No. 8 Tennessee and at No. 20 Missouri follow that.
1. Jeremiah Fears rebounds from scoreless effort
Jeremiah Fears is the Sooners' second leading scorer on the season, averaging nearly 16 points per game. He has scored in double digits in 19 of 21 games this season, but was held scoreless in OU's previous outing against Texas A&M. He rebounded in a big way against Vanderbilt, scoring 21 on 8 of 12 shooting, along with four assists.
2. Oklahoma's second half one of best in college basketball
I'm not sure there has been a better half of college basketball this season than the performance put on by Oklahoma in the second half of Saturdays' game against Vanderbilt.
The Sooners shot a sizzling 73% (24 of 33) in the second half and scored a season-best 61 points to just 27 for Vanderbilt. The 30-point Sooner victory tied an Oklahoma program record for the winning margin against a ranked team.
3. Breaking news: Oklahoma controls the boards
After being outrebounded by 28, including a 21-2 margin on the offensive glass, in a loss at Texas Tech earlier in the week, Oklahoma displayed much greater physicality and energy, outmuscling and outrebounding the Commodores 39-24. The Sooners' domination on the boards led to 10 second-chance points at the offensive end and triggered 21 fast-break points.