Southeastern Conference newcomer No. 17 Oklahoma is quickly learning that there are no off days in conference matchups. Saturday’s game in Athens, Ga., against Georgia looks to be no different.
The Sooners (13-2, 0-2) breezed through their nonconference slate before losing at then-No. 5 Alabama 107-79 last Saturday and then squandering an 18-point lead on Wednesday before falling to No. 10 Texas A&M 80-78 at home.
“That was as tough as tough losses can come,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said of Wednesday’s defeat. “I thought we did so many good things that we wanted to do, but we ran into an elite performance in the second half, and we didn’t take care of the ball.
“Every night is going to be a battle. Disappointed we didn’t pull this one out, but we’ll bounce back. That’s the only thing we can do. We fell a point short, and it starts with me to be better.”
Oklahoma shot 54.3 percent from the field and made 14 of 24 (58.3 percent) of its 3-point attempts but turned the ball over 18 times to Texas A&M’s nine turnovers.
The Sooners did get a season-high 34 points off the bench from sixth-year senior Brycen Goodine, who made 9 of his 11 3-pointers. Jeremiah Fears leads the team with 17.6 points per game, while Jalon Moore follows with 17.4.
Georgia (13-2, 1-1) bounced back in a big way after its conference opener 63-51 loss at then-No. 24 Ole Miss, as the Bulldogs ran away from No. 6 Kentucky for an 82-69 home win on Tuesday.
Playing in a conference that boasts nine ranked teams, Georgia head coach Mike White understands the importance of Tuesday’s resume-boosting win, but also knows a long road lies ahead.
“This of course was our biggest win,” White said of the Kentucky victory. “I thought we played with a ton of energy and stayed connected throughout. There are a lot of good things we did but we’ve got to continue to get better.
“It was a really good win for us, obviously, but it’s a different SEC these days and all of these are going to be extremely difficult, so we’ve got to move onto the next one pretty quick.”
In its first win over a top-10 team since January 2020, Georgia got 17 points from freshman Asa Newell and 15 points and eight rebounds from sophomore Blue Cain.
Newell paces the team with 15.5 points, followed by De’Shayne Montgomery’s 12.6 and Dakota Leffew’s 12.2.
After receiving six votes in last week’s AP Poll, the Bulldogs could crack the Top 25 for the first time January 2011 with its second win over a ranked foe this week.
Saturday marks the second all-time meeting and the first since Oklahoma won 93-90 in Hawaii on Christmas Day in 1987.
–Field Level Media
