OU Downs No. 24 Badgers on the Road in Men's Hoops Exhibition

Friday, October 24

Fiserv Forum • Milwaukee, Wis.

7 p.m.

University of Oklahoma

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Wisconsin

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Oklahoma

Wisconsin

Brown paced the Sooners with 18 points Friday night.

OU Downs No. 24 Badgers on the Road in Men's Hoops Exhibition

October 24, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: OU Athletics Communications

MILWAUKEE — The Oklahoma men's basketball team shot 52% from the field and 55% from 3-point distance to register an 84-83 win over No. 24 Wisconsin in an exhibition game Friday night in Milwaukee. The game was played at Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.

The Sooners, who feature an entirely new starting five from last season, led 46-41 at halftime and extended their advantage to as many as nine at 60-51 and 66-57.

Wisconsin used an 11-1 run to go ahead 68-67 with 6:40 remaining, but it was the Badgers' only second half lead as the Sooners countered with a 9-2 burst to go up 76-70 with 3:48 to go.

With the score knotted at 78, redshirt senior Mohamed Wague put OU up two by hitting a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left, and then redshirt senior guard Nijel Pack drilled 16-foot pull-up jumper to give the Sooners a four-point cushion with 14.7 seconds to go.

Wisconsin guard John Blackwell hit a fadeaway with 6 seconds left to cut the margin to two, but Pack sealed the win with two free throw makes with 5 seconds remaining. The Badgers hit a 3-pointer with less than a second to go for the game's final points.

Junior guard Xzayvier Brown paced the Sooners with 18 points and 5 assists while adding 4 rebounds in 32 minutes. He was joined in double figures in points by Pack (15; all in the second half), sophomore forward Derrion Reid (14) and redshirt senior guard Jeff Nwankwo (10).

Wague and redshirt freshman Kuol Atak scored 9 points apiece. Wague's 6 rebounds and 3 blocks tied for team highs.

UW, which had won its last 52 exhibition games (last loss was in 1992), was led by Blackwell's 20 points and Nick Boyd's 19.

"(Exhibition) games like this are so good for both teams," said fifth-year OU head coach Porter Moser. "(Wisconsin head coach) Greg (Gard) and I were talking earlier; we hope the NCAA goes to more of them because you want to play guys, you want to get a lot of guys experience. The situations that arise playing teams like this are invaluable. I thought both teams got a lot out of it. I bet both teams are going to go to the film room and say there's a lot of room to improve. But that's why you do it. Find out how you can get better."

The Sooners scorched the net in the first half, shooting 63% from the field and burying 8 of 12 3-pointers for 67% clip. Atak came off the bench to nail three triples on four tries in just 6 minutes of first-half action, while Nwankwo made both of his long-range attempts.

Reid led Oklahoma with 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting in his 12 minutes.

OU held the Badgers to 44% field goal and 32% (10 for 31) 3-point shooting on the night and posted a 36-33 rebounding advantage. The Sooners blocked eight shots while UW blocked one.

GAME NOTES
• The Sooners' five starters were forwards Tae Davis and Derrion Reid, center Mohamed Wague and guards Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack. All but Wague are new to the program this season.

• OU freshman forward/center Kai Rogers, who is from the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, played 14 minutes off the bench and contributed 2 points and a game-high-tying 3 blocked shots.

• Pack scored all 15 of his points in the second half. He was 0 for 4 from the field in the first half and 4 for 8 after halftime.

• Sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe came off the bench to register 4 points, 3 assists and a team-high-tying 6 rebounds in 21 minutes.

• Freshman guard forward Alec Blair, who is also on the OU baseball team, played 7 minutes and logged 3 rebounds.

• After scoring the game's opening bucket, OU fell behind 8-2 but responded to take a 19-16 lead with the help of five 3-pointers in a 4:18 stretch (two each by Reid and Kuol Atak and one by Davis).

• Wisconsin and Oklahoma were elite free throw shooting teams last season. The Badgers led the country and set a Big Ten record with their .826 mark while the Sooners ranked fourth nationally with their school-record .795 figure. On Friday, OU shot 88% from the charity stripe (15 for 17) while UW shot 72% (13 for 18).

• Wisconsin finished 27-10 last season and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game and the NCAA Tournament second round.

• Friday's game was the result of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Oversight Committee approving in January a proposal allowing teams to play up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year school, including Division I teams. The contest served as OU's only exhibition game this season.

UP NEXT
• The Sooners open the regular season on Monday, Nov. 3 when they host Saint Francis at 7:30 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Red Flash made last year's NCAA Tournament. The OU-Saint Francis contest will follow the OU women's basketball opener against Belmont (4:30 p.m.).