Second-Half Run Propels Men's Basketball Past South Carolina, 82-62

Saturday, January 18

Norman

3 PM

University of Oklahoma

14-4,1-4SEC

South Carolina

10-8,0-5SEC

South Carolina

Oklahoma

Second-Half Run Propels Men's Basketball Past South Carolina, 82-62

January 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN — Oklahoma used a 15-0 run to turn a 59-54 lead into a commanding 74-54 advantage and deal visiting South Carolina an 82-62 defeat at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday. All 10 Sooners who saw the court scored, as OU registered its first-ever SEC win.

The Sooners (14-4, 1-4), who committed 11 turnovers in the first half, committed just one in the second. For the game, they outscored the Gamecocks (10-8, 0-5) 19-3 off turnovers.

OU eclipsed the 50-percent field goal mark for the third time in four games, turning in a 56.0% figure for the its second-best performance of the season while holding the Gamecocks to a 41.2% performance. The Sooners shot 47.1% from 3-point range (8 for 17) and 85.7% from the free throw line (18 for 21) after entering the game as one of just two SEC teams (No. 1 Auburn is the other) to rank in the top five of the league in season field goal percentage (48.3%), 3-point percentage (36.6%) and free throw percentage (80.0%).

Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears scored in double figures for the 17th time in 18 games, registering 16 points and career highs of nine rebounds (previous high was five) and eight assists. Fears became just the second Sooner since the start of the 1996-97 season to register at least 16 points, at least nine rebounds and at least eight assists in a game. The other was Trae Young against Oklahoma State on Jan. 3, 2018 (27 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists).

Brycen Goodine drained Oklahoma's first 3-pointer of the afternoon and the Sooners scored four quick points off turnovers to take a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout. Kobe Elvis followed with a corner trey to lift OU to a 14-6 lead, tied for its largest advantage of the first half.

A defensive battle ensued after South Carolina knotted the game at 22, with Elvis' second corner 3-pointer of the game breaking the deadlock at the 4:51 mark. He nailed his third trey less than a minute later for a 28-24 advantage and Jalen Moore slammed home a dunk two minutes later to complete a 7-0 run and extend the Sooners' lead to 32-24.

South Carolina's Morris Ugusuk hit a buzzer-beating heave from just past half court to cut OU's lead to 34-30 at halftime and the Gamecocks carried that momentum into the second half, taking their first lead of the game (39-36) with 16:51 remaining. The margin grew to 42-38 on a Jacobi Wright 3-pointer, but a 5-0 OU spurt that included a Mohamed Wague lay-in and a Goodine triple put the Sooners back in front.

OU's Luke Northweather got a timely trey to rattle in and Dayton Forsythe drained a transition 3 after a Moore block to put the Sooners up 59-51 with 7:51 remaining. Two minutes later, Fears found Wague for an alley-oop dunk to give the Sooners their first double-digit lead. Moore scored on the next possession and OU was off to the races from there, going on a 15-0 run.

Elvis and Forsythe came off the bench to combine for five 3-pointers on seven tries. Elvis was 4 for 6 and finished with 12 points, while Forsythe made his only attempt from long distance and tallied five points, the second most of his career.

Freshman guard Dayton Forsythe scored five points off the bench, the second most of his career, in 13 minutes of action. He was 2 for 3 from the field, hit his only 3-point attempt and contributed two rebounds and an assist.

Oklahoma, which improved to 6-1 all-time against South Carolina (4-0 at home), is off until it plays at Arkansas on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN2.