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Oklahoma men's basketball defeats Vanderbilt 97-67

Oklahoma Sooners-Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball

Freshman guard Dayton Forsythe and redshirt senior guard Duke Miles during the game against Vanderbilt on Feb. 1.

 Jenna Burress/OU Daily

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Takeaways from OU men's basketball 97-67 win over Vanderbilt.

Filmed and edited by Evan Rebhorn

Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5) defeated No. 24 Vanderbilt (16-5, 4-4) 97-67 Saturday afternoon in the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

The victory was OU’s third in SEC play and also its largest margin of victory in conference play. The Sooners completely turned the game on its head in the second half, outscoring Vanderbilt 61-27 in the period.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ victory:

Sooners turn up intensity on both ends of the floor in the second half

After sleepwalking through most of the first half, the Sooners found themselves in a four-point hole as they went to the locker room at the half.

However, they were wide awake for the entire second half. OU came out on fire on both offense and defense in the second half to come away with a big victory in SEC play.

On offense, the Sooners made their first four three pointers in the second half as part of a 16-0 run that gave OU a 10-point lead after trailing the entire first half. From there, the offensive onslaught was on.

The Sooners went 24 of 33 from the field in the second half – 72.7% – including seven of 12 from three – 58.3% – and scored 61 points. Senior forward Jalon Moore scored 15 points in the second and freshman guard Jeremiah Fears added 12. Moore finished with 19 points and Fears finished with 21.

On defense, the Sooners shut down the Commodores in the second. After allowing Vanderbilt to score 40 points on 15 of 32 shooting in the first half, OU held the Commodores to 27 points on nine of 30 shooting in the second.

The Sooners also forced 10 Vanderbilt turnovers in the second after only forcing five in the first. No Vanderbilt player was in double figures in the second half.

“We just had it clicking in the second,” Moore said after the win. “On both offense and defense, it all just came together (in the second half).”

“Big thing for me is we were able to get stops,” head coach Porter Moser said following the win. “We got more stops and we were able to get out and run. And that flipped things for us.”

Late OU run gives Sooners momentum at the end of the first half

With 3:30 remaining in the first half, Vanderbilt had accumulated a 38-27 lead and had seemingly sucked the life out of the Lloyd Noble Center.

A fast 9-0 Sooners run over the next three minutes re-energized the LNC crowd and gave the Sooners some much needed momentum to bring into the second half.

The run began with transfer guard Duke Miles connecting on a put-back layup attempt. Freshman guard Dayton Forsythe provided a spark off of the bench with a steal and a layup of his own to cut the lead to seven.

Another steal by Forsythe and a block by Miles on consecutive defensive possessions led to a Miles and-one fast-break layup to cut the lead to five. The run was capped by sophomore forward Luke Northweather connecting on a three to pull the Sooners to within two.

The momentum boost was evident in a big way for the Sooners in the opening stages of the second half. Following a Vanderbilt bucket to open the half to push the Commodore lead to six, OU came roaring back with a 16-0 run to open up a 10-point lead with 15:53 remaining in the game.

“We just wanted to commit to our defense and make the right plays on defense to close the half,” Moore said after the win. “We were also able to make some shots too so it all came together nicely at the end of the half.”

Turnover struggles continue in the first half

The Sooners struggled to take care of the basketball in the first half, continuing a theme that has plagued them throughout SEC conference play.

OU committed 11 turnovers in the first half, compared to only five turnovers committed by Vanderbilt. Those 11 turnovers resulted in 10 points the other way for the Commodores.

Transfer guard Kobe Elvis led the way with three turnovers. Fears and Moore both had two. The turnovers were a result of the Sooners being unable to create any offensive rhythm throughout most of the first half. The Commodores defense held the Sooners in check and made things uncomfortable for OU. Six of the 11 OU turnovers were forced steals by Vanderbilt.

The turnovers numbers for the Sooners in the second half weren’t quite as bad as they were in the first. OU committed only six turnovers in the second, bringing their game total to 17.

“We got more aggressive in the second half and I thought we were stronger with the ball,” Moser said after the win. “We were able to adjust to what they were doing defensively, and we found more success in the second half.”

Next, the Sooners are back on the road to take on the No. 1 Auburn Tigers (19-1, 7-0) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Auburn, Alabama.

This story was edited by Hannah Bryant.

Oklahoma Men’s Basketball schedule:

Nov. 4: Oklahoma 93, Lindenwood 60

Nov. 11: Oklahoma 73, Northwestern State 57

Nov. 16: Oklahoma 85, Stetson 64

Nov. 21: Oklahoma 84, East Texas A&M 56

Nov. 27: Oklahoma 79, Providence 77

Nov. 28: Oklahoma 82, Arizona 77

Nov. 29: Oklahoma 69, Louisville 64

Dec. 3: Oklahoma 76, Georgia Tech 61

Dec. 7: Oklahoma 94, Alcorn 78

Dec. 14: Oklahoma 80, Oklahoma State 65

Dec. 18: Oklahoma 87, Michigan 86

Dec. 22: Oklahoma 89, Central Arkansas 66

Dec. 29: Oklahoma 89, Prairie View A&M 67

Jan 4:  Alabama 107, Oklahoma 79

Jan. 8: Texas A&M 80, Oklahoma 78

Jan. 11: Georgia 72, Oklahoma 62

Jan 15: Texas, 77, Oklahoma 73

Jan. 18: Oklahoma 82, South Carolina 62

Jan. 25: Oklahoma 65, Arkansas 62

Jan. 28: Texas A&M 75, Oklahoma 68

Feb. 1: vs. Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m.

Feb. 4: at Auburn at 8 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

Feb. 8: vs. Tennessee at 11 a.m. (TV: ESPN or ESPN2)

Feb. 12: at Missouri at 8 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

Feb. 15: vs. LSU at 5 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

Feb. 18: at Florida at 6 p.m. (TV: ESPN2)

Feb. 22: vs. Mississippi State at noon (TV: SEC Network)

Feb. 26: vs. Kentucky at 8 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

March 1: at Mississippi at 1 p.m. (TV: ESPN or ESPN2)

March 5: vs. Missouri at 7 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

March 8: at Texas at 7 p.m. (TV: SEC Network)

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