In the first half, Texas A&M shot 27% from the floor and 7% from the 3-point line. Yet, they led Oklahoma by one point at halftime.
How? Because they absolutely dominated the Sooners in two key areas: Rebounds and free throws.
The Aggies grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, which led to 10 second-chance points, and 28 total rebounds. The Sooners grabbed nine total rebounds in the first half. The Aggies also shot 16-of-20 from the free throw line, while the Sooners shot just 2-of-4.
Combining second-chance points and free throws, the Aggies outscored the Sooners 26-2. That proved to be crushing for the Sooners, who fell to the Aggies 75-68 at Reed Arena on Tuesday.
Those advantages made the difference, particularly as the Sooners found success in other ways. Jalon Moore was again excellent offensively, scoring 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Brycen Goodine poured in 24 points and made five 3-pointers. The Sooners even shot significantly better from the floor compared to the Aggies.
But the rebounding difference, in particular, was too much to overcome. The Aggies finished the game with an 46-19. advantage on the glass and a 20-3 advantage in second-chance points. The Aggies grabbed more offensive rebounds (21) than OU had total rebounds.
With the loss, the Sooners drop to 15-5 on the season and 2-5 in SEC play.
Here's a few notes and takeaways from the game:
NOTES
— The Sooners fought to stay in the game and never trailed by more than eight points. They even cut the lead to two points with 5:50 to go and four points with 41 seconds to go.
But they simply didn't make enough plays on either end to win.
— Turnovers were the issue for OU the last time these two teams played earlier this month, when the Sooners coughed up 18 turnovers that turned into 30 Aggie points.
That wasn't the issue this time around. The Sooners committed 11 turnovers to 13 for the Aggies.
— The Aggies shot just 37% from the floor and 16% from the 3-point line. The Sooners shot 47% from the floor and the 45% from the 3-point line, and still lost.
— Moore and Goodine combined for 46 points on 11-of-18 shooting. The rest of the team combined for 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting.
Goodine scored 58 points and made 14 3-pointers in the two meetings against Texas A&M this season.
— Things just aren't working out for Sam Godwin in conference play. He's scored more than six points just once in seven games, and he's grabbed more than five rebounds just once.
He came into the game averaging 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 19 minutes per game coming into this contest. He finished this game with two points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
It appears that the Sooners simply need to start looking at playing Mohamed Wague more instead of Godwin.
— This was the toughest game of the season for Jeremiah Fears. The freshman didn't register a single point or a rebound, missing all five of his shots while recording three assists and two turnovers. He was even fouled intentionally with 26 seconds left in the game, and he missed both free throws.
He also committed a critical turnover with three minutes left in the game and the Sooners trailing by four, and that turned into an and-one opportunity for the Aggies on the other end.
This is the low point, and Fears had been playing better before this game. But the reality is that Dayton Forsythe (3 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) has earned more minutes moving forward, even if they come from Fears.
The Sooners simply can't survive outings like this from Fears.
— Texas A&M guard Wade Taylor, who missed the first meeting between the two teams, finished with 12 points.
— Up next: The Sooners host Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (SEC Network).
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