OU men’s basketball (19-14, 7-11 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) 83-63 Thursday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville.
Entering the game, the Sooners’ only season sweep came at the hands of the Aggies, whose full‑court pressure and steady shotmaking buried OU in the first two meetings. This time, the Sooners handled the press, traded punches and got their revenge on the biggest stage of the season so far, refusing to pack their bags while they chase a last‑minute at-large bid to March Madness.
OU entered the day as the fourth team out in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s projections, trailing Auburn (17-16, 7-11 SEC), Indiana (18-14) and New Mexico (22-9). Auburn’s 72-62 loss to No. 25 Tennessee (22-10, 11-7 SEC) gave the Sooners some help on the bubble, but a win over A&M was the kind of result they desperately needed to leapfrog the pack. The Sooners are now marked as the first team out, with the stakes riding high on their next matchup and others’ shortcomings in their respective games.
On Feb. 13, after OU snapped a nine‑game skid that had fans questioning his future, head coach Porter Moser offered a message his team has clung to ever since.
“There’s always a path. There’s a path, and that path starts with one game at a time,” Moser said.
Since Moser’s “path” mantra, OU is 7-2, piecing together a late‑season surge that mirrors the football team’s finish into the College Football Playoff after head coach Brent Venables’ own “Hard to Kill” declaration.
OU led from start to finish behind senior guard Nijel Pack’s scoring. Pack followed up on his 24-point performance against South Carolina (13-19, 4-14 SEC) with 20 points against the Aggies. Pack has been OU’s go-to option during its six-game winning streak, averaging 19.7 points during the stretch.
The six-year veteran has shown poise in must-win scenarios and is now the fourth Sooner in the last 30 years to post back-to-back 20-point games in a conference tournament. With the win, the 2025-26 squad is now the first OU team to win back-to-back conference tournament games since 2003.
Pack is the frontman of a Sooners starting five playing some of its most cohesive basketball of the season during the SEC Tournament. Against South Carolina, the starters accounted for 79 of the Sooners’ 86 points while shooting 67.5% from the field. The trend continued against Texas A&M, with the starters scoring 72 of OU’s points, though on a less efficient 44% shooting clip.
Senior forward/center Mohamed Wague and guard Jadon Jones anchored the defensive effort. Wague finished with four defensive rebounds and three blocks, while Jones added two defensive boards, a steal and a block.
Both have emerged as key pieces in OU’s late-season surge. Since the start of his Ramadan observation on Feb. 17, Wague has elevated his play and is averaging 8.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and two blocks over the last eight games. Jones has recorded at least one steal in every game of the Sooners’ winning streak, adding another defensive presence to OU’s eight-man rotation.
“People show their character and true colors during struggle,” Moser told SEC Now’s Pat Bradley postgame. “We were struggling, and they kept on coming up, preparing, believing and staying together. ... We just kept on saying there's a path.”
Next, the Sooners look to claim their seventh straight win — third straight in Nashville — against No. 17 Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) at 8:30 p.m. Friday on the SEC Network.
This story was edited by Laurie Jones.
