No. 1 Auburn Tigers defeat Oklahoma Sooners 98-70
The Oklahoma Sooners ran into a buzzsaw when they made the trip to Auburn, Ala. to take on the No. 1 team in the nation on Tuesday night. Though the game was close for much of the first half, the Tigers were simply too much for the Sooners and began to pull away in the final eight minutes before halftime.
Oklahoma trailed by just five with just over eight minutes to play, but the No. 1 Auburn Tigers took their game to another level and finished on a 16-11 run to enter halftime up by 10.
Things got worse for the Sooners in the second half. Oklahoma struggled to create a shot and, when they did, couldn’t get them to drop. Auburn, on the other hand, took advantage of their inside presence and came through with big shots from the outside when the opportunity presented itself. Auburn’s leading scorer Johni Broome had 15 points as one of five Tigers to score in double figures.
The Tigers proved once again why they’re the No. 1 team in the nation as they outscored the Sooners by 18 to pick up the 28-point win and remain undefeated in conference play.
Oklahoma shot just 29.6% in the second half and 33.3% from the field for the game. From deep, OU shot just 30.4% in the loss. The Sooners battled on the boards, only allowing Auburn a plus-three advantage on the offensive glass. But turnovers did the Sooners in. OU had 15 turnovers to just seven for Auburn.
True freshman Dayton Forsythe led the way with 13 points on just 1 of 8 from the field and 0 for three from three. nine of his 13 points came in the second half. Though his shot was falling, Forsythe was able to get to the line 11 times and converted each of his free throws. Jalon Moore chipped in 11 points and Jeremiah Fears chipped in 10 points.
The Sooners fell to 16-6 and 3-6 in SEC play with the loss. Oklahoma will look to get back on track against the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday at the Lloyd Noble Center.
