NORMAN — Oklahoma made 13 3-pointers and shot a season-high 68% from behind the arc to post a 91-79 win over Auburn on Tuesday night in the Tigers' first-ever men's basketball trip to Norman. The victory snapped a three-game series losing streak for the Sooners.
OU, which won for the third time in five games to improve to 14-14 on the season and 4-11 in SEC play, were spurred by
Mohamed Wague's career night. The fifth-year center recorded 18 points (two shy of his career high), nine rebounds, a career-high four blocked shots and a career-high-tying four steals. He also broke his previous career high of six free throw makes by going 10 for 12 at the foul line.
Oklahoma, which trailed for just 15 seconds on the night, committed only nine turnovers to Auburn's 14, as the Tigers fell to 15-13 and 6-9.
OU's
Nijel Pack made his first four 3-point attempts and finished 6 for 8 from deep en route to a team-high 22 points. With his 3-pointer on the game's opening possession, Pack became just the 31st player in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 career treys. By game's end, he climbed to the No. 25 all-time spot with 405 makes, most among active players.
Forward
Derrion Reid contributed 16 points and guard
Xzayvier Brown 14 points and a game-high four assists. Guards
Jadon Jones (3 for 4 from long distance) and
Dayton Forsythe (5 for 6 from the free throw line) added nine and seven points off the bench, respectively.
Guards Kevin Overton and Keyshawn Hall combined for 52 of Auburn's 79 points, each scoring 26. Overton was 5 for 10 from 3-point range and Hall was 11 for 11 from the free throw line.
After Auburn took a 5-4 lead, its only advantage of the game, the Sooners outscored the Tigers 47-37 the rest of the half to go up 51-42 at the break. OU made its first four 3-point attempts and went 10 for 14 (71%) in the opening 20 minutes, as its 51 first-half points were its most in SEC play this season.
Brown, who hit a 3 just before the first-half buzzer, scored OU's first seven points of the second stanza. Reid's offensive rebound and stickback put the Sooners up 60-49 with 15:39 left and they maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the contest, stretching the margin to as many as 18 (79-61) with 6:28 to go.
Auburn mounted a 10-2 run to cut its deficit to 10 with 3:10 remaining, but the Sooners respond with six straight points to seal the win and improve to 10-5 at home on the season.
The Tigers, who started 5-2 in conference play, lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Over the last two games, Wague is averaging 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds and is 16 for 20 (80%) from the free throw line. Prior to Tuesday, he had never attempted more than 12 free throws over a two-game span in his career
Pack entered the game shooting an SEC-best 44.1% from 3-point range and upped his figure to 45.3%. He also leads the league with his 3.3 treys per contest. Over the last four games, he is shooting 66.7% from behind the arc (16 for 24).
OU is off until Saturday when it plays at LSU at 5 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by SEC Network.