Jeremiah Fears scored a career-high 31 points, hit 12 of 12 free-throw attempts and dished out five assists to lead Oklahoma to a 96-84 upset of No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12 Southeastern Conference) snapped its two-game losing streak and boosted its NCAA Tournament resume.
Sam Godwin had 12 points in the first half but didn’t play in the second half for the Sooners as he sat at the end of the bench with ice on his right knee. Mohamed Wague chipped in 12 points and Jalon Moore added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Mark Mitchell led Missouri (21-9, 10-7) with 18 points. Caleb Grill scored 16 points and had eight rebounds and Marques Warrick added 10 points for the Tigers, who have lost three of their past four games.
Oklahoma hit 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc in the first half while sinking 69 percent from the field. Missouri hit just 4 of 14 3-point tries and shot 46.2 percent from the field in the opening half.
Grill gave the Tigers their first lead at 18-16 on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer at the 12:14 mark of the first half.
The visitors’ lead would be short-lived as the Sooners reeled off an 11-2 run as they hit five straight shots punctuated by Fears’ jumper at the 8:27 mark to take a 27-20 lead.
The Sooners pushed their advantage to 37-25 on Fears’ transition bucket with 6:05 left in the first half — Oklahoma’s ninth consecutive made shot — prompting a Missouri timeout. Oklahoma held a 50-37 halftime lead.
Missouri got five straight points from Jacob Crews to cut the deficit to 57-45 at the first media timeout of the second half. A step-back 3-pointer from Grill pulled Missouri within 69-57 with 9:41 left in the game. After an Oklahoma turnover, Bates drained a trey and the Tigers cut the Sooners’ lead to single digits behind a 12-3 run.
A deep 3-pointer from Grill got Missouri within 77-69 with 4:53 to play. However, a tough inside hoop from Wague gave the Sooners an 84-72 edge with 3:27 left.
Oklahoma held a 48-34 edge on points in the paint.
–Field Level Media
