Grant Sherfield had a season-high 30 points, leading Oklahoma to a 93-69 upset of No. 2 Alabama on Saturday in Norman, Okla., as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Sooners (12-9) and broke a recent second-half funk by Sherfield.
It was Oklahoma’s first win over a top-2 opponent since March 2002.
The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Crimson Tide (18-3).
It didn’t take until the second half for Sherfield to snap out of his recent struggles, though.
Sherfield did a little bit of everything offensively for Oklahoma, which grabbed the lead 80 seconds in the game and never relinquished it.
Sherfield had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, with four free throws and four assists before halftime, as the Sooners gradually stretched their lead to 17 by halftime.
What Sherfield didn’t do, Jalen Hill did.
Hill finished with a career-high 26 points, going 9 of 11 from the field. Tanner Groves had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sooners hadn’t scored more than 87 points this season.
It looked like the Crimson Tide were going to make a push early in the second half, cutting the lead to 11 four minutes in before Sherfield came alive once again.
Sherfield had been scoreless after halftime in each of the previous three games.
But Sherfield poured it on, scoring 12 points in a seven-minute stretch as Oklahoma’s lead climbed as big as 31.
Rylen Griffen led Alabama with 15 points.
The Crimson Tide shot just 37.9 percent from the field (25 of 66) and 6 of 22 (27.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
Oklahoma (12-9) shot 57.6 percent from the floor (34 of 59) and were 9 of 13 (69. 2 percent) on 3-pointers.
About midway through the second half, the game was delayed after a brief shoving match ensued when the Sooners’ Otega Oweh was fouled hard by Alabama’s Jaden Bradley, drawing a shove from Groves.
Bradley was called for a foul on the initial play, while Bradley and Groves drew double technicals and Alabama’s Noah Gurley was called for a technical as well.
–Field Level Media
