Oklahoma owned the first 23 minutes of its SEC home opener against Texas A&M on Wednesday night. The problem was the Aggies seized control after that and finished off the night by stealing the game away from the Sooners with an 80-78 road victory.
Lloyd Noble Center was rocking and Oklahoma was rolling with an 18-point advantage over visiting Texas A&M with three minutes gone in the second half of its SEC men's basketball game.
The 17th-ranked Sooners (13-2, 0-2) doubled up a nine-point halftime advantage and opened up a 51-33 margin in the opening minutes of the second half and appeared well on their way to their first SEC win. The 10th-ranked Aggies (13-2, 2-0), however, playing without their leading scorer, had other ideas.
At that point, Texas A&M senior and SMU transfer Zhuric Phelps put the team on his shoulders and took over the game. Phelps scored 28 of his 34 points, including 18 off of 3-pointers, in the second half, to lead the Aggies over the finish line and leave the OU home crowd stunned and wondering if they are watching the 2023-24 movie all over again.
Phelps wasn't the only sharpshooter on the court on Wednesday night. Oklahoma's Brycen Goodine made 10 field goals in the game, and nine of them were 3-pointers. Goodine, a transfer from Fairfield, matched Phelp's 34-point night with one of his own. Goodine's explosion came in the first half when he led the OU attack with 21 points and six 3-pointers.
Oklahoma's 14 3-pointers in the game tied a season best. The Sooners also made 14 of 34 3-pointers in the season-opening win over Lindenwood.
Texas A&M played the game without its leading scorer, Wade Taylor IV, who sat out the game with an injury. Taylor averages close to 16 points a game. Phelps and other Aggies stepped up their games in the absence of their team leader.
Oklahoma hits the road again this weekend still seeking its first SEC win. The Sooners will play Georgia on Saturday, a team that they have played just one other time in their long basketball history.
Three takeaways from Oklahoma's loss to Texas A&M:
1. Turnovers biggest reason for OU's 2nd-half collapse
Turnovers are the biggest rally killers in any sport. That's why coaches are constantly preaching the critical importance of ball security.
Oklahoma committed a season-high 18 turnovers against Texas A&M on Wednesday. Ten of those turnovers occurred during Texas A&M's second-half comeback and led to 24 points. For the game, the Aggies scored 30 points off of Sooner turnovers alone.
2. Sooners still getting dominated on offensive glass
OU coach Porter Moser emphasized a better rebounding performance in the preparation for Texas A&M. The Sooners were out-rebounded 51-26 in the loss to Alabama, including a 22-8 disadvantage in offensive rebounding.
Texas A&M is the best rebounding team in the SEC (Alabama is No. 2). A&M had a plus-five rebound edge over OU (32-27), but the Sooners continue to get outmuscled on the offensive boards. Texas A&M pulled down 17 offensive rebounds to Oklahoma's eight.
Interestingly, the Sooners scored on more second-chance opportunities than the Aggies (15-10). Where A&M's offensive rebounding advantage did show up more prominently was in shot opportunities. The Aggies had 15 more field-goal attempts than Oklahoma (61-46).
3. Hoping the past doesn't repeat itself. ...
The Sooners started out the season 10-0 and won 13 of their first 14 games one year ago before going 7-11 the rest of the way.
There is still half a season left to play and no immediate need to panic, but as formidable as the SEC schedule is, with nine SEC teams ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25, it's easy to understand why there might be some concern.