Texas A&M put together a late comeback to defeat the Oklahoma Sooners, 83-76, on Saturday in College Station, Texas. The Aggies won their sixth in a row and improved to 12-3, 3-0 SEC, and OU lost their second in a row, falling to 11-5, 1-2 SEC.
Turnovers are what hurt the Sooners. OU entered the game leading the SEC with the lowest turnover percentage (9.5/game), but they committed 17 turnovers in this game (Aggies had 8). Texas A&AM had an 18-8 points-off-turnovers advantage.
“The thing is, we had 17 turnovers and we were talking about having 12 or under,” said OU head coach Porter Moser. “Those five turnovers I think is the difference.”
Oklahoma went on a 20-10 run late in the first half to tie the score at 43-43 with 1:08 remaining before halftime, but a late three-pointer gave A&M a 48-45 halftime advantage.
The Sooners led 67-63 midway through the second half but were outscored 20-9 the rest of the way.
Oklahoma’s Nijel Pack scored a game-high 24 points, his most in 12 contests. He also surpassed the 2,000-career points milestone (now at 2,007). Pack made 6-of-13 three-pointers in the game. Derrion Reid made a career-high four three-pointers on six tries and finished with 19 points and career-high 11 rebounds. Tae Davis added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Sooners out rebounded the Aggies, 43-32. Both teams shot 42% from the field.
OU returned home to play defending national champion Florida on Tuesday, and will host Alabama on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The game will air on the SEC Network.