Jeremiah Fears and Oklahoma held on as long as possible. The Sooners never led in the first half, and didn’t take their first lead over Connecticut until there was nine minutes left in the game, but stayed in the game for the entire night.
Unfortunately for the Sooners, the offense just wasn’t there.
The Sooners shot just 32% from the floor and 18% from the 3-point line, as their season ended Friday with a 67-59 loss to the Huskies in the Round of 64.
The offense was simply the issue the entire game. The Sooners fell behind 11-2 early and they shot just 29% from the floor (7-of-24) and 20% from 3 (2-of-10). But they stayed within striking distance behind great defense — the Huskies shot 38% from the floor in the first half — and a stellar effort from Jeremiah Fears. The true freshman accounted for 11 of OU’s 26 halftime points while making 3-of-6 field goal attempts, as the Sooners trailed by just six points at halftime.
The rest of the team scored 15 points on 4-of-18 shooting in the first half.
Fears kept up that effort in the second half, and got some help from Jalon Moore. The Sooners took their first lead at the 9:03 mark, when Fears found Mohamed Wague for a layup. Later in the game, Fears made a 3-pointer and Moore made back-to-back layups to tie the game with six minutes to go.
But Connecticut proved too much to handle. The defending back-to-back national champions outscored the Sooners 13-6 over the final six minutes, and the Sooners made just one of their final nine attempts.
Fears finished with 20 points and five rebounds while accounting for four of the team’s five total assists. Moore finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Wague chipped in with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Sooners’ season ends with a 20-14 record.
— Sam Godwin‘s absence was very noticeable in the first half. Through the first 16 minutes, Wague and Luke Northweather combined for zero points and one rebound.
But over the final 24 minutes, Wague was incredibly solid and provided some huge production on both ends. However, the Sooners’ lack of big-man depth was a huge disadvantage.
— Fears made two of his three 3-point attempts. The rest of the team went 1-for-16. Team sharpshooter Brycen Goodine missed all four of his attempts.
— The Sooners made just 12-of-27 layup attempts and missed several point-blank attempts at the rim, which proved incredibly costly. The Huskies made 11-of-17 layup attempts.
— The Sooners stayed in the game primarily at the free throw line. They attempted 27 total and made 22, compared to 13-of-18 for the Huskies.
— The defense really was terrific, as they held the Huskies to 42% shooting overall and 24% from the 3. But the offensive issues proved too much to overcome.
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