OU men's basketball defeats Texas 76-72 in regular season finale

Oklahoma (19-12, 6-12) defeated Texas (17-14, 6-12) 76-72 in the Sooners’ regular season finale Saturday night in Austin, Texas.

The victory over the Longhorns gives Oklahoma back-to-back wins right when it needed them. Saturday’s victory strengthens the Sooners hopes of getting their first NCAA tournament bid in four years under head coach Porter Moser.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Glenn Taylor Jr., Luke Northweather lead the way in the first half

With the Sooners being without their senior big man Sam Godwin due to a sprained MCL suffered against Missouri, Oklahoma needed contributions across the board to be competitive against the Longhorns.

In the first half against Texas, transfer guard Glenn Taylor Jr. and sophomore forward Luke Northweather did just that, combining for 17 big points for the Sooners off of the bench.

Taylor Jr. led the Sooners with 10 points on four of five shooting, including two of two from deep. Taylor Jr., who averaged 4.3 points per game this season, was last in double figures scoring when the Sooners defeated Louisville in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament championship back in November.

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— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) March 9, 2025

Northweather brought home seven points in the first half on perfect three of three shooting. He also pulled in four rebounds and collected one block after serving a larger role in the Sooners’ rotation due to Godwin’s absence.

Northweather and Taylor Jr.s combined 17 points helped lead the Sooners to 37 total points in the first half and put the game at a 37-37 tie at halftime. Transfer guard Brycen Goodine also added seven points for the Sooners on three of six shooting, including one for four from three.

Sooners hang tough on boards despite missing Godwin

Not having Sam Godwin available to play meant the Sooners were going to be undersized against the Longhorns. The senior forward has been responsible for 5.2 rebounds per game this year and has been the Sooners second leading rebounder.

Despite the absence of the big fella in the middle, Oklahoma was able to hang tough on the glass in the first half and stay competitive. The Longhorns took a 20 to 16 rebounding edge into the halftime locker room, and they only outrebounded the Sooners by one on the offensive glass.

Northweather was the leader for the Sooners with four total rebounds, splitting two on the offensive glass and two on the defensive glass. Transfer guard Kobe Elvis pulled away three boards, and senior forward Jalon Moore and Goodine both came down with two rebounds each.

Despite being outrebounded across the board by the Longhorns, the Sooners came away with more second-chance points. Oklahoma generated seven second-chance points, compared to only two by the Longhorns.

Sooners overcome cold-shooting stretch in second half to come away victorious

After a back-and-forth second half, the Sooners opened up a five-point lead over the Longhorns after Elvis hit a jumper and appeared to be in firm control of the game.

However, the Sooners entered a cold-stretch on offense, as they have throughout the season at times, and allowed the Longhorns to get right back into the game, even taking a brief lead once again.

In that stretch, OU went five minutes and seven seconds of game time without making a field goal. The only points for the Sooners came via four free throws.

Transfer guard Duke Miles finally broke the seal for the Sooners at the 2:42 mark with an and-one jumper to push the OU lead back out to four. Goodine followed Miles up with a three-pointer on the Sooners following possession, and Oklahoma never trailed again en route to a season-saving victory over the Longhorns.

Next, the Sooners head to Nashville for the first round of the SEC tournament where they will take on the Georgia Bulldogs (20-11, 8-10) at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 12 inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.