Winning is going to be hard in the SEC. That's been the lesson for Oklahoma through three conference games.

They learned that the hard way in Athens, Georgia on Saturday. The Sooners fell to the Bulldogs 72-62, dropping them to 13-3 on the season.

Most notably, the Sooners are now 0-3 in conference play.

The unfortunate part for Oklahoma is that the win was there for them.

The Sooners stormed back from an early 19-10 deficit to take a 36-33 halftime lead. The Sooners took that lead behind a 14-3 lead, which included a five-minute scoring drought for the Bulldogs. They even held a 50-49 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining in the second half.

But just like it was against Texas A&M, the second half was abysmal. The Sooners scored just 26 points after halftime on 31% shooting. Despite their poor offense and shooting, they trailed by just five points with three minutes to go.

However, they ended the game missing 10 of their final 12 shots. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs got points when they needed them most.

Here are a few notes from another gut-punch loss:

— It was a nightmare game for Jeremiah Fears. He finished with just two points on 1-of-11 shooting, adding five assists, three fouls and turnovers.

Simply put, it's been an awful start to conference play for Fears. It's particularly been a struggle early in games. In three first halves, Fears has totaled five points on 2-of-17 shooting with four turnovers.

Overall, the stats have been fine in conference play. He's averaging 11 points and 3.9 assists per game. But he has a plus-minus of -44, has 10 turnovers and is shooting 28% from the floor. The Sooners look better when he's off the floor.

It's not necessarily fair, considering his age and the fact he's a true freshman, but he operated as the lead offensive option and a lottery-projected NBA draft pick in the non-conference slate. Fears hasn't been that, by any stretch.

Other guys have stepped up, and it's still early in the season, but the Sooners are going to need Fears to find a rhythm soon. This team isn't built to win if Fears isn't scoring.

— The Sooners certainly didn't get the kindest whistle. They were called for 25 fouls, while Georgia was whistled for 16. The Bulldogs took 31 free throws. OU took 9.

That might just be life as the road team in the SEC.

— After Brycen Goodine's historic 34-point performance against Texas A&M, he came crashing back to earth. He scored just three points on 1-of-7 shooting and he missed a ton of good looks.

— Mohammad Wague scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, adding three rebounds and two assists. He accounted for 31% of the Sooners' second-half scoring.

The Sooners had 13 bench points. Wague had 10 of them. Georgia had 24 bench points.

It was unexpected, but Wague has given the Sooners some very solid minutes off the bench in conference play. The stats don't really show it, but he's arguably been OU's best big man.

The big-man rotation continues to be a huge question mark for the Sooners. Luke Northweather has been unplayable. Sam Godwin hasn't had a huge impact, hasn't had more than five rebounds in an SEC game and continues to struggle with foul trouble, just like the last two seasons.

— Turnovers were the issue against Texas A&M. They weren't against Georgia. The Sooners won the turnover battle 13-12 and only lost the points-off-turnover battle 15-14.

But the Sooners, again, badly lost the turnover battle, 41-33. The Sooners currently have a -38 rebound margin through three conference games.

— The Sooners got solid games from Kobe Elvis (14 points, 6-of-11 shooting) and Duke Miles (5-of-11 shooting). Jalon Moore led the team with 17 points but only had six points after halftime.

— The reality is that the momentum from the Sooners' 13-0 finish to non-conference play is gone. They likely won't be ranked in next week's AP Poll, and there's simply not an easy win left in conference play.

Next week, the Sooners host Texas (9 p.m. Wednesday) before traveling to South Carolina. Both are must-win games for OU to stay afloat.

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