Jeremiah Fears scored a game-high 27 points and dished out 10 assists as Oklahoma snapped its five-game losing streak with a 93-87 upset of No. 21 Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference contest on Saturday in Norman, Okla.
Jalon Moore scored 18 points, 15 of them in the second half. Sam Godwin had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10 SEC).
Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State with 19 points, and KeShawn Murphy added 16 off the bench. Riley Kugel and Claudell Harris Jr. each tallied 11 points for the Bulldogs (19-8, 7-7).
The Sooners overcame a 37-34 halftime deficit with hot shooting in the second half, but they had to withstand a late rally by Mississippi State.
Kugel’s layup with 1:21 to play cut Oklahoma’s lead to 88-82. The Bulldogs’ press forced a turnover, but the Sooners got the ball back on a steal by Fears. Godwin split a pair of free throws on the possession.
Another layup by Kugel layup trimmed the deficit to 89-84 with 50 seconds to play. Oklahoma’s Duke Miles split a pair of foul shots for a six-point lead.
Harris hit a corner 3-pointer to get the Bulldogs within 90-87 with 28 seconds left, but two free throws by Dayton Forsythe pushed the lead back to five.
Mississippi State missed a pair of triples and a putback before Moore split a pair of free throws for the final margin.
Early in the second half, Moore scored five straight points with a 3-pointer and a break-away jam to give Oklahoma a 44-41 lead with 17:37 to play.
In the half’s first eight minutes, Oklahoma was 9-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range en route to a 62-57 lead. The Sooners shot 68 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from beyond the arc in the half.
Kobe Elvis grabbed a loose ball and hit a triple as part of a 9-0 run that put Oklahoma ahead by 10. Brycen Goodine was fouled as he hit a corner 3-pointer and converted the four-point play for an 81-69 lead with 4:50 to play.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half. Oklahoma shot 40 percent, Mississippi State was at 37.1 percent and were at 30.8 percent and 30 percent respectively from beyond the arc. But the Bulldogs turned eight Sooners turnovers into 15 points.
