NORMAN, Oklahoma (AP) — With Oklahoma set to compete in the Southeastern Conference in 2025, Sooners fans used the SEC/Big 12 Challenge to give Alabama a dose of the energy they want to bring to the league.
After mocking second-place finisher Crimson Tide with chants of “SEC” and “overrated” in the second half, fans stormed the court — a rare occurrence in Oklahoma. Grant Sherfield posted a season-high 30 points and the Sooners defeated Alabama 93-69 on Saturday.
It was the kind of moment Oklahoma sophomore coach Porter Moser envisioned when he left Chicago’s Loyola to take charge of the Sooners.
“I thought the crowd was incredible,” he said. “I was sitting there as the crowd fell to the ground — you know, my younger self might have run out in the middle of it — and I just sat there and I was like, ‘This is a vision.’ And that kind of excitement with the student body – I thought it was great. They were there early. The best crowd I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Jalen Hill added a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds in 9-for-11 shooting. He was also matched to Alabama guard Brandon Miller, who averaged 19.5 points but finished with 11 on 4-for-14 shooting.
Hill said he wanted to show what he was about.
“I feel like I have something to prove,” said the senior. “He’s going to be a top five draft pick at the end of the day and I just wanted to prove to everyone – the Boy Scouts, the country – that I can hang out with him.”
Moser said it was a typical defensive performance for Hill.
“What he does night after night, the guys he guards — he guards lottery tickets and he’s resilient,” Moser said. “He played a lot of minutes. And then that he has that defensive effort and also has 26 points. I mean what a performance from Jalen.”
Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma (12-9), who shot 58% from the field and posted a season-high. It was Oklahoma’s first win over a team ranked in the top two in the AP since the 2002 Big 12 tournament, and its largest-ever winning margin against an AP top-five team.
The Sooners had lost three straight games but there were some signs of progress. They had three losses in January to top-25 teams with four points or fewer.
Alabama coach Nate Oats said the loss could be costly when it comes to seeding for the NCAA tournament.
“It doesn’t impact SEC rankings, which is the only good thing,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll recover from a loss from the conference, but it’s not good. We needed the SEC to do well in this Big 12 challenge. We obviously haven’t done our job.”
The Crimson Tide (18-3) had won nine straight games, but Oats said the team didn’t play well. Rylan Griffen, who led Alabama by 15 points, said Oats cautioned the team about their lackluster play.
“We weren’t really listening,” Griffen said. “We didn’t come out ready to fight. … You could kind of sense that we thought we were kind of untouchable.”
Oklahoma led 50-33 at halftime and it didn’t look like a fluke. Sherfield scored 18 points before the break and helped the Sooners shoot 68% from the field in the first 20 minutes. Hill added 13 points in 5-on-5 shooting.
Halftime was interrupted when Hill scored on a spin move in the closing seconds and a technical foul was called on Miller.
Alabama cut their deficit to 11 in the second half, but Hill’s dunk on a quick break pushed Oklahoma’s lead back to 64-46 and got the crowd going. Sherfield’s crossover and fadeaway 3-pointers gave the Sooners a 78-53 lead.
BIG PICTURE
Alabama: Young Crimson Tide was taken apart by a team of veterans. The Crimson Tide lacked energy and never really challenged the Sooners. They made 6 of 22 3-pointers and only had six assists.
Oklahoma: Sherfield was in crisis after scoring 10 of 34 field goals in Oklahoma’s three-part losing streak. He found his shot and found teammates, scoring 11 of 20 field goals and finishing the game with six assists to level the balance for the Sooners.
NEXT
Alabama: host Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
Oklahoma: host Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25