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Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12) defeated No. 15 Missouri (21-9, 10-7) 96-84 Wednesday night inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

On a night that began with senior night celebrations, the Sooners were able to come away with an upset win over the Tigers and add a crucial, late-season boost to their NCAA Tournament résumé.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Sooners offense starts red-hot in the first half

Wednesday night against the Tigers was an absolute must-win game for the Sooners to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. And in the first half, Oklahoma’s offense showed up and showed out—exactly what the Sooners needed.

In the first half against the Tigers, Oklahoma put up 50 points on 20 of 29 shooting from the field – 69% – including four of seven shooting from three. The performance was a complete 180 degree switch from the last time the Sooners and the Tigers met up, in which Oklahoma only scored 58 points for the entire game.

The hot shooting allowed Oklahoma to take a 50-37 lead into the halftime locker room. Oklahoma’s defense also helped out its offense, holding the Tigers to 12 of 26 shooting and only four of 14 from three.

Freshman guard Jeremiah Fears led the way for the Sooners with 13 points in the first half on perfect 5 five of five shooting. Senior forward Jalon Moore and transfer guard Kobe Elvis both scored six points, with Moore going two of six from the field and Elvis going two for two from deep.

Nine of 10 Sooners who touched the court in the first half put their name into the scoring column of the box score.

“We did a fantastic job generating solid shots in that first half, and the entire night,” head coach Porter Moser said following the win. “Our offensive production was fantastic and I was pleased with how we operated.”

Sam Godwin starts fast before exiting with knee injury

In what was his final start on the Lloyd Noble Center court, senior forward Sam Godwin got off to a scorching-hot start.

Godwin, who has gone 15 of 16 from the field in the Sooners last three games, went five for five from the field in the first half for 12 points. Godwin scored eight of the Sooners first 12 points, including their first bucket in his second senior night start.

Godwin’s 12 points came in 11 minutes of game action. Unfortunately for the senior, his first half was cut short after coming down awkwardly on a shot attempt at the rim. After gingerly making his way off of the court, Godwin was assisted back to the Sooners’ locker room and didn’t return for the remainder of the half.

“His start energized everything for us,” Moser said. “As for his injury, we’ll see what the diagnosis is. He has an MRI tomorrow. But his start was everything for us, and I wanted to let him know that.”

“It was tough to see him go down like that,” Moore said after the win. “That’s our brother out there, and seeing that motivated us to go out and finish off the victory for him.”

Godwin did not play any more minutes in the second half. After spending extended time in the locker room, he reappeared on the Sooners’ bench with his uniform off and a heavy ice-wrap on his right knee.

“We wanted to finish strong for Sam (Godwin),” Fears said following the win. “We all checked up on him at halftime, and the second half was for him for sure.”

Jeremiah Fears leads the Sooners to victory

On a night where Moore wasn’t 100% and Godwin was lost early due to injury, the Sooners needed others to step up to lead them to victory, and Fears did exactly that.

Although seniors were recognized, the talented freshman guard stole the show on senior night. Fears finished with 31 points on nine of 13 shooting and one for two from three. Fears also went a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line.

After scoring 13 points in the first 20 minutes, Fears followed that up with 18 in the second half. 10 of those 18 came courtesy of the free throw line, where the Sooners went 25 of 26 as a team for the night.

“My teammates did a good job trusting me throughout the night,” Fears said. “They all had my back, and that allowed me to go out there and perform the way that I performed.”

The 31 points from the freshman set a new career high. Fears’ previous career-high of 30 came against Michigan back on Dec. 18 in the Jumpman Classic.

“Not only was his offense at a high level tonight, but I thought his ball handling, and especially his defense, was also at an extremely high level,” Moser said. “And for us, that changes everything. His defense was phenomenal tonight.”

“He (Fears) did a fantastic job carrying his team tonight,” Missouri head coach Dennis Gates said after the loss. “He made some great plays, especially once Godwin went out, and his team fed off of that.”

Next, the Sooners will hit the road one final time for their regular season finale against the Texas Longhorns (17-13, 6-11) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 8 in Austin, Texas.

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: Oklahoma 97, Vanderbilt 67

Feb. 4: Auburn 98, Oklahoma 70

Feb. 8: Tennessee 70, Oklahoma 52

Feb. 12: Missouri 82, Oklahoma 58

Feb. 15: LSU 82, Oklahoma 79

Feb. 18: Florida 85, Oklahoma 62

Feb. 22: Oklahoma 93, Mississippi State 87

Feb. 26: Kentucky 83, Oklahoma 82

March 1: Mississippi 87, Oklahoma 84

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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