Alabama’s Aden Holloway knocked down a 3 assisted by Mark Sears a few minutes into the second half. 20 seconds later, Sears stole the ball from Oklahoma’s Kobe Elvis and found Derrion Reid for a ferocious fastbreak slam.
It was that kind of night. The Crimson Tide were everywhere — around the perimeter, running the floor, in the paint, on the glass. Saturday was the Sooners’ welcome to the SEC moment.
No. 10 OU was throttled by No. 6 Alabama 107-79 in its first true road contest of the season in front of a sold-out crowd at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“We’re going to be in these things every night in this league,” head coach Porter Moser told OU’s in-house radio postgame. “So we’ve got to know why we lost. We lost because 22 offensive rebounds and they had 20 assists and we had 10.”
With the loss, Oklahoma is unbeaten no more. Only Tennessee remains perfect.
Entering Saturday, the Sooners’ strength of schedule ranked 346th by KenPom. There are no more Alcorn State or Prairie View A&M’s left on the schedule.
Jalon Moore led OU with 20 points on 9 for 14 shooting and seven rebounds. Jeremiah Fears added 16 points and five rebounds.
The Crimson Tide’s Mark Sears, the SEC preseason player of the year, led all scorers with 22 and dished 10 assists.
Alabama outrebounded Oklahoma 51-26. 56 of the Crimson Tide’s points were scored in the paint.
The Sooners shot 48% from the field and 26% from 3.
Here are three takeaways from the OU’s blowout loss:
Frustration kicked in for Fears, Oklahoma’s star true freshman guard, Saturday nearly 15 minutes in.
Fears missed an open 3, — his seventh miss on zero makes and third from deep — was slow to get back on defense and fouled Alabama’s Chris Youngblood on a rebound attempt under the basket. Fears was subbed out for the rest of the first half outside of the final six seconds with one point and two fouls.
Fears, who has been one of the best young players and a surprise nationally, endured his fair share of freshman blues. Fears shot 5 for 15 from the field in 26 minutes in the loss.
“Everybody in this league is going to get punched,” Moser said. “You’ve got to take a punch, know why you lost that round. We lost that battle tonight. We’ve got to come right back in a couple days and clean it up.”
Saturday’s contest was billed as a battle of two of the top freshmen and Crimson Tide’s Labaron Philon lived up to the hype. Philon finished with 16 points.
Fears caught fire and displayed his talent in front of NBA scouts in the second half when he scored 15 points on 5 for 8 shooting.
If the Sooners are going to compete night in and night out in the best conference in basketball, Fears is going to have to be better.
Porter Moser harped on it all week, the fact Alabama starts three 6-foot-11 bigs.
The Crimson Tide dominated in the paint, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds and finishing with 25 second chance points.
“They pounded us on the glass,” Moser said. “When we did get it, they got it back. I just thought the difference on the offensive glass was a huge thing.”
Alabama forward Grant Nelson scored 12 points with 11 rebounds and two blocks, while center Clifford Omoruyi dropped 10 points with seven rebounds.
Oklahoma’s Sam Godwin held his own at times, finishing with 15 points on 7 for 10 shooting from the field and five rebounds.
The Sooners struggled to keep up with the Crimson Tide’s athleticism and length down low.
“They’re very hard to defend,” Moser said, “but we’ve got to be able to rebound against these SEC-type athletes, these teams.”
Moore continued his impressive play in his return to his home state.
Moore hails from Birmingham, Alabama, and scored Oklahoma’s first nine points of the second half, trying to set up a comeback. The senior forward, who has eight games with 20 points or more this season, will be key the rest of the way for the Sooners.
“We’ve got to rebound and guard the ball better,” Moore told OU’s in-house radio postgame.
It wasn’t enough but Moore shined in front of a plethora of family and friends.
Next, OU hosts No. 12 Texas A&M at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Lloyd Noble center. The Aggies start SEC play against Texas on Saturday night.
“A big thing for us, is being able to get each other shots and know when to kick it,” Moser said. ” … We just simply did not do that tonight, which we’re going to learn from and do coming right back to play Texas A&M.”
Extra points
- Oklahoma forward/center Mo Wague, who played at Alabama last season, received his Final Four ring from Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats before the game. Coleman Coliseum honored Wague with a standing ovation. Wague finished with two points in five minutes. “We’ve just got to learn from it and get ready for the next game,” Wague told OU’s in-house radio postgame.
- Like Moore, Sooners guard Duke Miles returned to his home state on Saturday. Miles is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. He finished with 10 points and fouled out.
- Alabama’s Derrion Reid exited the game with an apparent injury alongside athletic trainers in the first half but returned in the second.
