Oklahoma freshman guard Jeremiah Fears responded from Tuesday’s scoreless performance at Texas A&M with a team-high 21 points as the Sooners blew out No. 24 Vanderbilt 97-67 on Saturday in Norman, Okla.

The Sooners (16-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) took their first lead just under two minutes into the second half as part of a 23-0 run to take a 59-42 advantage with 13:24 left in regulation.

Oklahoma shot 63.2 percent from the floor — including 72.7 percent when it outscored Vanderbilt 61-27 in the second half — and 55 percent (11 of 20) from 3 for the game. Fears, who was 0-for-5 from the field in the 75-68 loss on Tuesday, was 8-for-12 on Saturday. Teammate Jalon Moore scored 19 points and Dayton Forsythe 14.

The Sooners outrebounded the Commodores 39-24, and they dominated the game’s final 25 minutes, holding Vanderbilt to 1 of 12 on 3-pointers in the second half.

Devin McGlockton (game-high 22 points) and Jason Edwards (21) led the Commodores (16-5, 4-4) in scoring but had little help.

The Sooners got a red-hot start to the second half, hitting their first nine shots, including four from 3, to flip the game quickly.

Oklahoma took its first lead of the day with 18:21 left on Brycen Goodine’s 3 from the left side, erasing what had been a 13-point deficit.

Goodine hit a 3 from the other side and then Moore added one for a 10-point Sooner advantage.

The 23-point run finally ended when Vanderbilt’s Jaylen Carey hit a layup with 13:06 left, cutting the Sooners’ lead to 59-44.

Oklahoma later went on a 12-0 run, highlighted by Moore drive along the left baseline, a spin move in the lane and a short bank shot that became a three-point play.

Vanderbilt led 40-36 at the break thanks to 16 from McGlockton and 14 from Edwards, while Fears’ nine led Oklahoma.

The Commodores led from the jump in the first half and looked like they might be the team to run away with a win until the half’s final minutes.

But a flurry of Vanderbilt turnovers, combined with the Sooners picking up the defensive intensity, led to a 9-0 Oklahoma run. The Edwards hit a pull-up jumper on the left baseline from just behind the backboard with two seconds left.

Four Commodores picked up two fouls in the first half, including McGlockton. That, and with Carey — Vanderbilt’s best front-court reserve — not playing in the first half due to a coach’s decision, helped the Sooners to a 19-13 first-half edge on the boards.

–Field Level Media