North Carolina Hands Oklahoma First Loss of Season
The No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners suffered their first loss of the season, falling to No. 11 North Carolina, 81-69, on Wednesday at the Jumpman Invitational.
The event, which was in Charlotte, N.C., featured four programs thar are signed to Nike’s “Jumpman” brand. Michigan faced Florida in the first game.
The Sooners (10-1), who were unranked to start the season and picked to finish 12th in the preseason Big 12 poll, had won their first 10 games and were off to their best start since the 2015-16 season, which led them to the Final Four in Houston. That team, led by All-American Buddy Hield, lost to Villanova in the semifinals.
North Carolina (8-3) took a 36-28 lead at halftime and were led guard RJ Davis, who led the Tar Heels with 23 points, including five 3-pointers. Long-time Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Cormac Ryan scored 13 points and Harrison Ingram added 11 points.
Oklahoma had previously beaten high-major opponents like Iowa, USC and Arkansas going into the game. Despite a game effort late in the second half, they were never able to make it a one-possession game down the stretch.
OU shot the ball better than 50% in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to counteract 18 turnovers.
Forward Otega Oweh led the Sooners with 23 points. Guard Javian McCollum scored 14 points and guard Milos Uzah added 10 points.
Oklahoma is off until after Christmas. Then, the Sooners will play two final tune-ups at home before Big 12 play — against Central Arkansas on Dec. 28 and against Monmouth on Dec. 31.
Then, the Sooners will tip off their final Big 12 campaign at home against Iowa State on Jan. 6. The Sooners and the Texas Longhorns will leave the Big 12 this summer for the SEC.
iframe src=”https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1986400/1964875/” width=”510″ height=”500″ frameborder=”0″>You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
