After a dramatic triumph over Kentucky last weekend, Auburn found itself right back in the loss column after an uninspiring performance in Norman on Tuesday night.
Auburn’s Kevin Overton, in his home state, scored 26 points on a career-high nine field goals, but Oklahoma dazzled from beyond the arc to take down the Tigers 91-76 at Lloyd Noble Center.
“We didn’t represent Auburn well tonight, and that’s on me as their coach,” said Auburn head coach Steven Pearl. “I’ve got to do a better job. We had no urgency, and that’s unacceptable.”
Overton played all 40 minutes and came up three points shy of tying his career-high, connecting on five triples and hauling in seven boards. After scoring three points in the first half, Keyshawn Hall matched Overton with 26 points and 11 free throws, but committed six costly turnovers as the Tigers recorded 14 total – their second-highest of the season.
Overton led all scorers in the first half with 16 points and three triples, keeping Auburn within striking distance of the Sooners. But Nijel Pack, the SEC’s leader in 3-point percentage, found nylon on four deep shots as Oklahoma scored 30 of its 51 first-half points from deep in the first stanza.
The Sooners made 10-of-14 shots from deep in the first half, including a deep try from Xzayvier Brown at the buzzer to take a 51-42 edge at the break.
“They only hit two tough contested ones in the first half,” Pearl said. “The other eight were coverage mistakes. For us to win games, we’ve got to stop doing that. They did a really good job of attacking us on the short roll in ball screens.”
Oklahoma, known for giving up leads in the second half of SEC games – before Tuesday’s matchup, it had the lead in seven of its 15 SEC contests, but only owned three league wins – had no problem doing so against the Tigers.
The Sooners built a double-digit lead with 16:04 left to play and never lost it.
Overton connected on a pair of 3-pointers to pull the Tigers within 10 points, but the Sooners responded and built an 18-point lead before a 6-0 Auburn run to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 79-67 with 4:25 remaining.
Auburn turned the ball over nine times in the second half and Oklahoma took advantage, turning those into eight points on the other end.
“We executed well early. Second half, we were really poor in our execution,” Pearl said. “We had too many turnovers, 14 turnovers. Sixteen points off of turnovers, we lose by 12, so that’s a big part of the game.”
Pack led the Sooners with 22 points, making 6-of-8 triples. One of four Sooners in double figures, Mohamed Wague, who averaged 6.6 points per game prior to Tuesday – added 18 points and nine rebounds.
“You let a team like that get into a rhythm and play with confidence, then you’re going to have a hard time winning,” said Pearl. “That’s exactly what we let them do in the first five minutes.”
Auburn (15-13, 6-9) returns to Neville Arena for its next two games, beginning Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT against Ole Miss on SECN.
“Saturday’s a must-win,” Pearl said. “If you don’t win that game, you’re out of the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what our mindset has to be leading up to that game. We have to play hungry. We have to do everything the opposite of what we did tonight.” TG
