OU Falls in Heartbreaker to No. 18 Alabama

Saturday, January 17

Norman, Okla.

Noon

University of Oklahoma

11-7,1-4SEC

Alabama

13-5,3-2SEC

Alabama

Oklahoma

OU Falls in Heartbreaker to No. 18 Alabama

January 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach Moser Postgame Brown & Jones Postgame Box Score (PDF)

NORMAN — In a game that featured 12 lead changes and significant scoring runs by both teams, Oklahoma missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and fell 83-81 to No. 18 Alabama at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 82-79, OU guard Xzayvier Brown, the SEC's top free throw shooter at 93% entering the day, was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 7 seconds remaining. After making the first two fouls shots, his third rimmed out and Alabama's Amari Allen hit one of two free throws for a two-point lead. OU advanced the ball to its end of the court and called timeout with 4 seconds remaining, and on the ensuing inbound play Nijel Pack passed the ball to Mohamed Wague, got it back and took one dribble to the middle of the court where he shot a contested 27-footer that would have given the Sooners the win. But the ball hit the back of the rim and bounced away and Wague's tip attempt was off the mark.

The loss for OU (11-7, 1-4 SEC) was its fourth straight, while Alabama (13-5, 3-2) won for the second consecutive time after starting 1-2 in league play.

The Sooners built an 11-point halftime lead but fell behind 59-55 with 11:05 remaining, only to go back up by 73-67 with 4:51 to go on a Brown step-back 15-foot jumper. Alabama guard Labaron Philon, who averaged 21.9 points entering the game, quickly knotted the score at 73 by draining 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, and his basket and free throw with 20 seconds to go put the Crimson Tide up 79-75.

Brown kept it tight by converting one-and-ones at the foul line on each of OU's next two possessions before going 2 for 3 with 7.2 seconds left. The junior finished with team highs of 21 points and four assists and added two steals. He has scored at least 20 points a team-leading eight times this season, including six times in the last nine games.

Sophomore Derrion Reid, who played for Alabama's Sweet 16 team last year, logged one of his better career games. Battling leg cramps, the OU forward made 6 of 11 shots and registered 16 points, a team-high nine rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes. He was helped to the locker room after falling to the floor following his alley-oop dunk that put the Sooners up 71-67 with 5:39 to go, and returned late in the contest.

Senior forward Tae Davis contributed 14 points and seven boards and Pack, who went 2 for 10 from behind the arc, totaled 12 points.

The only other three Sooners who saw action were starting center Mohamed Wague (six points, six rebounds, two assists against his former team), and reserves Jadon Jones and Kirill Elatontsev. Jones's seven points were his most in five outings, and he recorded a career-high four blocked shots and four steals (one shy of his career high) in a season-high 31 minutes. Elatontsev was also productive, finishing with five points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in his 20 minutes.

The first half was nip and tuck with neither team leading by more than five points until late. After Alabama scored five straight to knot the game at 33 with 4:09 left, OU scored the final 11 points of the half for a 44-33 lead. Reid punctuated the run with a one-handed slam at the 0:13 mark after driving the left side of the lane. The Tide's 33 points were its fewest in a half this season.

Reid finished the first half with game highs of 13 points and seven rebounds while Davis added 12 points.

Alabama came out on fire after halftime, scoring the first 12 points to take the lead with 17:33 remaining. OU responded with a 9-0 run take a 55-48 advantage, only to see the Tide score 11 more in a row to go back up 59-55 with 11:05 to go.

Philon finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-for-19 field goal and 3-for-7 3-point shooting, while 6-11 forward Aiden Sherrell tallied 21 points and a team-high nine caroms.

Oklahoma plays South Carolina on Tuesday in the first of two road games. The Sooners and Gamecocks will tip at 6 p.m. CT in Columbia in a game televised by SEC Network. On Saturday, OU plays at Missouri at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.