NORMAN — Oklahoma entered halftime trailing Northwestern State by six points. The offense shot 30% (10/30) from the floor, and the Demons simply had out-executed the Sooners in the first 20 minutes.

It was a story the fans at Lloyd Noble Center had seen before. Fortunately for the Sooners, they were able to avoid disaster and end Monday's game with a 73-57 win over Northwestern State.

The difference between the halves? Jalon Moore finally found his offense.

The senior was out of sync in the first half, heading into halftime with four points on two of seven shooting. But he woke up in the second half, scoring 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting (2/3 from 3), and it was his layup at the 12:37 mark that capped off a 14-2 run that gave the Sooners the lead for good.

Moore found his outside shot, but the main difference was his attacks to the rim. He was relentless getting to the paint, attempting eight free throws in the second half.

“We were just trying to be aggressive and go downhill with him," Moser said. "It creates rotations when other people go downhill. I thought we just had way better movement going downhill. He finished. He got to the foul line. That always gets guys going, is getting to the foul line. He was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. That always gets it going."

With some help from Jeremiah Fears, and a better defensive effort in the second half, the Sooners were able to avoid a disastrous early-season loss and improve to 2-0 on the season. Here's a few takeaways from the win:

— With Brycen Goodine and Jadon Jones out, the Sooners went with a starting five of Kobe Elvis, Duke Miles, Glenn Taylor Jr., Sam Godwin and Moore. That group struggled offensively, as they missed seven of their first eight shots and entered the under-16 timeout trailing 5-2. They started again in the second half and trailed by seven with 16:24 left before Moser subbed in Jeremiah Fears for Taylor.

It's hard to imagine that group will start a ton of games this season.

— Fears was again the fulcrum of the offense when he was on the floor. In addition to his 15 points, two rebounds and two assists, he led the team in plus-minus (22) while he was on the floor and played 30 minutes.

Whether he starts or comes off the bench, the true freshman is going to play a lot this season. The only thing to watch will be his ball security. He turned the ball over six times against the Demons, and Moser's patience with "freshman mistakes" will be the main barometer for his playing time.

— The 3-point shot was there against Lindenwood (14/34) last week. It wasn't there against Northwestern State. The Sooners shot 6/21 from the 3-point line and a ghastly 2/14 in the first half.

Most notably, the Sooners shot 14 3s in the first half and only seven in the second.

"It was more that we got downhill and were a lot more aggressive," Moser said. "I don’t mind 14 threes in a half, matter of fact, maybe a little low. We made such an emphasis of not just passing around the perimeter and being stagnant. We did some things to get us in the paint and go downhill. I’m confident in the three, want to utilize the three. That being said, that’s with our two best shooters not in the game. It wasn’t intentional that we had that many threes. It’s just that we got to the rim. That was intentional. We were trying to be way more aggressive."

— With two rotation guys out, and the game undecided until late in the second half, Moser shrunk the rotation to seven players for most of the game. Jacolb Fredson-Cole, Dayton Forsythe and Luke Northweather all played five minutes and combined for 0 points on 0/2 shooting. All three of those players face an uphill battle for consistent minutes.

"I thought J-Cole did some good things defensively," Moser said. "Got one big rebound in traffic. He did some really good switches. He was a bigger body. He stepped in, had a nice wide open shot, looked good, wasn't afraid to take it. Luke wasn't afraid to take a shot. Dayton came in there. We're gonna need those guys to get more and more minutes because you never know. Juse like that, boom, we haven't played without both Jadon and Brycine all summer, all fall, and all of a sudden last week Jadon went out and Brycen went out just like that. You're down two of your long and bigger guards. Both 6-foot-4, defensive guys.

"We need guys to get minutes, get confidence. I thought J-Cole did a couple nice things. Dayton did a couple nice things defensively."

— It was a rough shooting night for Miles, who shot just 4/12 from the floor and 1/6 from 3. He did add four rebounds and three assists.

— The Demons shot an alarmingly-high 58% percent from the floor (14/24) in the first half and also outrebounded the Sooners 19-14. But the Sooners' defense tightened up in the second half, holding the Demons to 35% shooting and 13% shooting from the 3-point line.

The Sooners also forced 20 turnovers in the game, with Fears recording a team-high four steals.

— Sam Godwin finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, but had a plus-minus of -1. It was a tough night for him.

— Moser said Goodine is "day to day" with an ankle injury, while Jones could be a "little longer" with a back injury.

— As much as the Sooners were able to coast in the second half, a lot of those issues from last season popped up in the first half: Low energy, bad shooting and turnovers. The Sooners are gonna have to avoid those issues moving forward.

"The thing that I think we can build on as a trait, is how they responded at halftime," Moser said. "They went out and were aggressive to just not fall into the win. I thought they were very aggressive in the second half to go win the thing."

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