Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball lost to Auburn

Oklahoma (16-6, 3-6) lost to No. 1 Auburn (22-1, 9-0) 98-70 Tuesday night in Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama.

The Sooners held tough with the Tigers in the first half, but Auburn ultimately showed why they are the No. 1 team in the country and pulled away in the second half. The loss is the Sooners sixth in their last nine games.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:

Sooners hang tough on the boards in the first half

Throughout the season, the Sooners have struggled rebounding the basketball, and at times in dramatic fashion.

Tuesday, the Sooners held their own on the boards in the first half, allowing them to stay within striking distance of Auburn. At halftime, Auburn held an 18 to 17 rebounding edge. The one rebound advantage came via an offensive rebound for the Tigers.

Sophomore forward Luke Northweather led the Sooners with four rebounds. Transfer guard Brycen Goodine pulled in three boards, and transfer guard Glenn Taylor Jr. and senior forward Sam Godwin pulled in two each.

The Sooners pulled in four offensive rebounds which turned into five second-chance points, keeping pace with six second-chance points scored by the Tigers. Oklahoma also scored 10 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

The rebounding battle tipped towards the Tigers in the second half. Auburn finished the game with a 38 to 28 rebounding edge and a 10 to nine edge on the offensive glass.

Fears, Moore lead the way early for the Sooners

In a hostile environment on the road against the No. 1 team in the country, a team will look to its leaders to step up and generate offense. In the first half against the Tigers, senior forward Jalon Moore and freshman guard Jeremiah Fears did just that and led all Sooners scorers at halftime.

Both Moore and Fears finished the half with eight points. Moore shot four of 10 from the field in the first half and missed the only three pointer he took. Fears did a majority of his damage at the free throw line, where he was five of five. From the field, Fears shot one of five and went one for two from the three point line.

Fears from the 🔝 pic.twitter.com/nFQT9cSgrA

— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) February 5, 2025

Following behind Moore and Fears was Northweather, who added six points in the first half following back-to-back three pointers late in the half to pull the Sooners to as close as four.

The pair could not continue their momentum into the second half. Moore finished with 11 points on five of 12 shooting, and Fears finished with 10 points on one of eight shooting as the Tigers put the pressure on and pulled away.

Tigers turn up the heat in the second half

After allowing the Sooners to hang around in the first half, Auburn flexed its No. 1 ranking in the second half to put away the Sooners.

After scoring 44 points in the first half, the Tigers scored 54 in the second and blitzed the Sooners by 18 points in the frame. Auburn shot 15 of 27 from the field in the second and six of 14 from three.

Ten Tigers scored in the second half. Senior guard Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers with 11 points in the second and 15 total points for the game. Freshman guard Tahaad Pettiford had nine points, and senior guard Denver Jones and senior forward Chaney Johnson both had eight points in the half.

On defense, the Tigers shut down the Sooners’ offensive attack. Oklahoma shot a measly eight of 27 from the field in the second, including three of 13 from three. 17 of the Sooners 36 points came via the free throw line. Transfer guard Kobe Elvis led the Sooners with 10 points on two of four shooting in the half. Freshman guard Dayton Forsythe had nine points, seven of which came from free throws.

The Tigers also blocked 11 Sooner shot attempts. Graduate senior Dylan Cardwell led the way with six blocks and senior forward Johni Broome also added three.

Next, the Sooners are back at home when they take on No. 4 Tennessee (18-4, 5-4) at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.

Oklahoma men’s basketball schedule:

Nov. 4: Oklahoma 93, Lindenwood 60

Nov. 11: Oklahoma 73, Northwestern State 57

Nov. 16: Oklahoma 85, Stetson 64

Nov. 21: Oklahoma 84, East Texas A&M 56

Nov. 27: Oklahoma 79, Providence 77

Nov. 28: Oklahoma 82, Arizona 77

Nov. 29: Oklahoma 69, Louisville 64

Dec. 3: Oklahoma 76, Georgia Tech 61

Dec. 7: Oklahoma 94, Alcorn 78