Men's Hoops Drops Top-15 Battle to No. 11/13 North Carolina

Wednesday, December 20

Charlotte, N.C.

8 PM

University of Oklahoma

10-1,0-0Big 12

North Carolina

8-3,1-0ACC

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Photo by: Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Hoops Drops Top-15 Battle to No. 11/13 North Carolina

December 20, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No. 7/8 Oklahoma men's basketball dropped its first game of the season 81-69 against No. 11/13 North Carolina on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at Spectrum Center.

Down 63-48 with 7:52 remaining, the Sooners (10-1, 0-0 Big 12) started chipping away at the Tar Heel advantage. Sophomore Otega Oweh, who had a career-high 23 points, drained two of his 10 made free throws to start the late push. Junior Javian McCollum buried a 3-pointer, narrowing the UNC (8-3, 1-0 ACC) lead to 10.

After a layup by Harrison Ingram pushed the UNC advantage back to 12, Oweh drained a triple. Ingram responded with a 3-pointer before McCollum scored on a driving layup and senior Le'Tre Darthard tallied his second three, cutting the Tar Heel lead to 68-61 with 4:24 left.

North Carolina pushed its lead back to nine after a pair of Armando Bacot free throws. McCollum answered with a driving layup and Oweh cut the UNC lead to five after a pair of free throws with 3:01 left.

UNC stopped the Sooners' momentum with a triple by R.J. Davis. North Carolina scored 11 points to OU's four over the final three minutes to conclude the contest.

North Carolina held a 12-2 advantage to open the contest and entered the break up 36-28. Junior Jalon Moore slammed home a dunk with a minute left in the half, bringing the UNC lead back to single digits.

Oweh tallied 23 points on 6-for-10 shooting and added five rebounds and two steals. The Newark, N.J., product finished 10-for-11 from the free throw line. McCollum tallied 14 points and a team-high three assists. Sophomore Milos Uzan recorded 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and added five boards.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma returns to Norman for a pair of games at Lloyd Noble Center to finish the non-conference slate against Central Arkansas on Dec. 28 and Monmouth on Dec. 31.