by NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears scored 21 points to help Oklahoma dominate No. 24 Vanderbilt in a 97-67 win on Saturday.
Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore added 19 points and surpassed 1,000 career points. Dayton Forsythe scored 14 points for the Sooners (16-5, 3-5 Southeastern Conference), who have won three of four after losing their first four league games.
Oklahoma took control with a 23-0 run in the second half. The Sooners shot 63.2% from the field overall, including 72.7% after the break.
Devin McGlockton led Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) with 22 points. Jason Edwards scored 21 points for the Commodores, but he needed 20 shots to get them.
Vanderbilt led 38-27 late in the first half before Oklahoma closed on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 40-36 at the break.
Oklahoma controlled the second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brycen Goodine and Moore put the Sooners up 52-42 with 16:31 remaining, and a timeout by Vanderbilt didn’t help. By the end of Oklahoma’s 23-0 run, the Commodores had missed eight consecutive shots.
Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner sliced through the lane for a one-handed jam that cut Oklahoma’s lead to 60-52 with about 10 minutes to go, but Oklahoma regrouped and expanded its lead.
Postgame Notes
• After a 0-4 start to SEC play, Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5) won its third league game in the last four outings with a 97-67 home victory over No. 24 Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4). The Commodores had won three of their previous four contests.
• Oklahoma sandwiched a 35-6 run around halftime to go from down 12 (36-24) to up 17 (59-42). As part of that run, the Sooners scored 23 straight points from the 19:37 to 13:24 marks of the second half. Vanderbilt scored the first points of the second half at the 19:50 mark and didn’t score again until the 13:06 mark.
• The win was OU’s third against an AP Top 25 opponent this season, all of them against squads ranked No. 24. The Sooners beat then-No. 24 Arizona 82-77 in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals on Nov. 28 and then-No. 24 Michigan 87-86 in the Jumpman Invitational on Dec. 18.
• The Sooners shot .632 from the field on the afternoon, their best figure against a conference opponent since the 2004-05 season when they shot .661 in a 103-60 home win over Baylor.
• Ten of the 11 Sooners who attempted at least one field goal today, including all five starters, shot 50% or better from the field.
• Trailing 40-36 at halftime, OU outscored Vanderbilt 61-27 in the second half. Today marked the first time since at least the 1996-97 season that OU scored 61 points in a half against a conference opponent. Today was just the fourth time overall the Sooners scored 61 in a half during that time span (also vs. Tulsa in 2013-14 [second half], vs. Northwestern in 2017-18 [first half] and vs. UTSA in 2021-22 [second half]).
• Freshman guard Dayton Forsythe came off the bench to score a career-high-tying 14 points in 22 minutes of action. He was 5 for 8 from the field and 2 for 4 from 3-point range while also contributing three rebounds, two assists and a career-high three steals.
