University of Oklahoma Athletics
University of Oklahoma
4-1,0-0Big 12
Utah State
4-1,0-0Mountain West
OU Falls to Utah State at Myrtle Beach Invite
November 21, 2021 | Men's Basketball
CONWAY, S.C. – Oklahoma men's basketball (4-1, 0-0 Big 12) dropped its first game of the 2021-22 slate to Utah State (4-1, 0-0 Mountain West) in the Myrtle Beach Invitational championship game at HTC Center.
The Sooners were led by Tanner Groves' 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Groves averaged 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.33 assists per game during the three-game tournament.
Umoja Gibson (16), Elijah Harkless (10) and Jalen Hill (10) each finished in double figures. Hill led the Sooners with 10 rebounds and logged his first double-double of the season.
The Sooners and Aggies traded baskets to open the first half of play and USU continued to find a way to pull ahead.
Oklahoma tied the first half at 30 following a putback by Ethan Chargois, but Utah State tallied a layup with one minute remaining to take the 32-30 lead heading into the break.
Both sides continued their back-and-forth battle before the Sooners surged late and held a six-point lead (64-58) after a Harkless 3-pointer with 5:02 remaining.
USU was held scoreless for over a minute before cutting the lead to four. The Aggies netted another basket to trim the lead before Groves put back an errant shot to give Oklahoma a four-point lead once more.
Utah State used an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take the 70-66 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
The Sooners narrowed the Aggies' lead to one (71-70) after a driving layup by Jordan Goldwire with six seconds.
Tournament MVP Justin Bean tallied a pair of free throws to secure the win for Utah State.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma hosts Houston Baptist Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center.
