NORMAN, Okla. – Returning to his home state, Auburn’s Kevin Overton scored 26 points, but Oklahoma used sizzling outside shooting to take down the Tigers 91-79 Tuesday at Lloyd Noble Center.
“We didn’t represent Auburn well tonight and that’s on me as their coach,“ Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “I’ve got to do a better job. We had no urgency and that’s unacceptable.”
Overton played all 40 minutes, making 5 of 10 3-point attempts while grabbing seven rebounds.
Keyshawn Hall matched Overton with 26 points, scoring 23 in the second half while making all 11 of his free-throw attempts. Filip Jovic chipped in off the bench with seven points and eight rebounds.
Playing 20 miles from his hometown of Oklahoma City with nearly 20 friends and family members in attendance, Overton led all scorers with 16 first-half points, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range to keep the Tigers within striking distance of the Sooners.
The SEC’s leading 3-pointer shooter, Nijel Pack, was lethal in the first half, making all 4 of his 3-point attempts. Oklahoma scored 30 of its 51 first-half points from long range, making 10 of 14 3-pointers including one from Xzayvier Brown with 3 seconds left in the half to give the Sooners a nine-point halftime lead.
“They only hit two tough contested ones in the first half,” Pearl said. “The other eight were coverage mistakes. For us to win games, we’ve got to stop doing that. They did a really good job of attacking us on the short roll in ball screens.”
Auburn would get no closer in the second half, as Oklahoma built a double-digit lead and steadily added to it.
Overton hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half to twice pull the Tigers within 10 points, but the Sooners responded and built an 18-point lead before a 6-0 Auburn run to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 79-67 with 4:25 remaining.
Oklahoma (14-14, 4-11) took advantage of nine second-half Tiger turnovers to prevent any hopes of an Auburn comeback.
“We executed well early. Second half, we were really poor in our execution,” Pearl said. “We had too many turnovers, 14 turnovers. Sixteen points off of turnovers, we lose by 12, so that’s a big part of the game.”
Pack led the Sooners with 22 points, making 6 of 8 3-point attempts. Oklahoma made 13 of 19 3-point shots, a 68.4-percent clip. One of four Sooners in double figures, Mohamed Wague added 18 points and nine rebounds.
“You let a team like that get into a rhythm and play with confidence then you’re going to have a hard time winning,” said Pearl, whose team led for only 15 seconds. “That’s exactly what we let them do in the first five minutes.”
Auburn (15-13, 6-9) returns to Neville Arena for its next two games, beginning Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT against Ole Miss. Auburn University students will receive free Standing on Business T-shirts.
“Saturday’s a must win,” Pearl said. “If you don’t win that game, you’re out of the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what our mindset has to be leading up to that game. We have to play hungry. We have to do everything the opposite of what we did tonight.”
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer