NORMAN — Porter Moser's squad simply appeared helpless for all 40 minutes of Saturday's game against No. 4 Tennessee.
The Volunteers simply overwhelmed the Sooners with hot shooting. They opened the game making 14 of their first 16 shots — including their first five 3-pointers — and went into halftime shooting nearly 70% from the floor and 58% from 3. The Sooners, meanwhile, shot just 39% from the field and trailed 45-25 at halftime.
The Vols' offense cooled off in the second half, but it didn't matter. The Sooners fell 70-52 at the Lloyd Noble Center.
"I thought what we’ve done earlier in the year that we’re not doing right now is emotionally and physically fighting through hard times," Moser said. "Over and over, I had talked about we had the resiliency in some of these earlier games."
It just wasn't a good effort at all for the Sooners' offense, which finished with season lows in both points and field-goal percentage (32%). There just wasn't much room to operate for OU's offense against a Tennessee defense that ranks fourth in scoring and offers size and speed at every position.
"We could never string baskets together," Moser said. "We’ve gone on runs in this building and gotten the energy in this building going. We could never get any energy going, couldn’t cause that because we couldn’t get a string of made shots. We know they’re elite defensively, and they are. I thought we had some looks, some layups. We just couldn’t string a run the whole night. I don’t know if we ever made three in a row. We’d make one and then miss a layup or something.
"I don’t think the last two games, (against) the best of the best, we haven’t fought emotionally or with resiliency when things have gotten hard in that game."
But the OU defense also just struggled to contain a Tennessee offense that ranks 15th in the SEC in scoring and 14th in field-goal percentage.
The Sooners fall to 16-7 and 3-7 in SEC play.
Here's a look at some notes from the game:
NOTES
— Jeremiah Fears was a game-time decision with a thigh injury, but he resumed his regular spot in the starting lineup. Fears moved well enough on the floor, though he played noticeably shorter stints and had a heating bad on his leg when he wasn't in the game.
Fears made several good passes (that his teammates didn't capitalize), but otherwise it was another tough outing for the standout freshman, who finished with eight points (3/8 shooting), one rebound, one assist and three turnovers.
— Jalon Moore was the Sooners' only player to finish in double figures, but he shot just 4-of-12 from the floor. Duke Miles finished 2-of-9 from the floor.
No Oklahoma player shot better than 38% from the floor.
— The transition to the bench has not gone well for Kobe Elvis, who finished with zero points, one assist and one turnover in 12 minutes.
— The Sooners' big-man rotation was particularly unproductive and continues to put the team at a major disadvantage. Sam Godwin finished with four points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. Mohamed Wague and Luke Northweather combined for two points and one rebound in 21 minutes.
— The Sooners' previous season low in points was 62 against Georgia. Their previous season low in field-goal percentage was 33% against Auburn on Tuesday.
— Even with the Vols "cooling off" offensively in the second half, they still finished the game shooting 60% from the field and 43% from 3. They shot 50% from the field in the second half.
Their shooting helped make up for their 19 turnovers. The Sooners finished with 12.
— One positive for the Sooners has been their free-throw shooting. Coming into the game, they led the SEC in free throws made (371) despite being ninth in attempts (464). They made 12-of-12 attempts against the Vols after shooting 27-of-29 in their last outing against No. 1 Auburn.
— The Sooners were again projected as a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who listed them as one of the "Last Four Byes."
With eight games remaining, the Sooners likely need to win at least four of them to feel comfortable about their resume.
— Next up: The Sooners travel to No. 15 Missouri. Tipoff set for 8 p.m. on Wednesday (SEC Network).
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