NORMAN, Okla. — The No. 2/2 men’s basketball team from Alabama ended Saturday afternoon on a nine-game winning streak against Oklahoma, losing 93-69 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at the Llyod Noble Center.
The Sooners took control of the competition early in the first half and didn’t let up, scoring in 13 of their last 14 halftime possessions to put a 50-33 lead in the dressing room. Oklahoma (12-9) shot a scorching 68 percent (19 of 28) out of the ground in the opening stanza, including 6 out of 8 from deep.
Freshman Rylan Griffen led five UA players by double figures with 15 points and seven boards. Jahvon Quinerly added 12 points off the bench to give Tide a 32-18 lead in the category.
The Sooners were led by Grand Sherfield with 30 points while teammate Jalen Hill added 26 points. Tanner Groves also had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards in the win. Together, the trio scored 70 of the team’s 93 points.
The Tide falls to 18-3 overall and is now 4-3 in SEC/Big 12 games.
HEAD COACH NATE OATS POST-GAME COMMENTS
“Oklahoma came in ready to play and we obviously didn’t. I told our guys that they (Oklahoma) had a few possession losses and are way better than their record showed and they were ready to go and I didn’t think we were. They jumped at us from the start and we never really got back in, from the coaching staff all the way down. They shot almost 70 percent out of three and they were at 70 percent at one point so we didn’t shoot it well and they shot it great. A lot of that comes down to their defense and our defense, you give them open shots that they’re going to take and (Grant) Sherfield we didn’t have an answer for him. He’s really good and we knew we went in but we didn’t work well enough and guys like Jalen Hill had 26 (points) and eight (rebounds), they were good across the board and they’re a good team . ”
TEAM STATISTICS
Along with Rylan Griffen and Jahvon Quinerly, Brandon Miller and Mark Sears posted double-digit points, each scoring 11, while Noah Clowney added 10 points and eight rebounds as the team leader
Oklahoma had a 36-35 advantage on the boards, marking the fourth time this season that Alabama has been overtaken in a game and lost for the first time (3-1).
The Sooners finished the game shooting 58 percent (34 of 59) from the field, 69 percent from three-point range (9 of 13), and 84 percent (16 of 19) from the foul line
In comparison, Alabama shot 38 percent for the game, 27 percent from deep and 62 percent from the charity streak
FIRST HALF
Compared to Oklahoma’s hot shooting, Alabama shot 33 percent (12 of 36) from the ground and 30 percent (3 of 10) from beyond the arc
Alabama had 11 second chance points and did not allow OU to score in the category
Grant Sherfield (18 points) and Milos Uzan (13 points) of Oklahoma combined for 31 of 50 OU points
Noah Clowney had a team-high eight points along with six rebounds
SECOND HALF
The Tide came out of the second half with a 7-3 run and reduced the lead to 13 points (53-40).
Alabama trimmed it to just 11 points (55-45), but Oklahoma extended their lead to 20 points (68-48) with 13:32 in play
The Sooners would continue to lead by as much as 32 points before settling for the 24-point win
NEXT
Alabama will return home Tuesday at the Coleman Coliseum to take on Vanderbilt
The competition begins at 7:30 pm CT and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network
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