Umoja Gibson stood at the corner of the arc as Walker Kessler towered over him.
Gibson hit the 7-foot-1 Auburn forward with a cross-over, raced toward the basket and floated up a shot. The senior guard’s prayer dropped in off the glass, barely out of reach for Kessler, who finished the game with four blocks.
After Oklahoma trailed 39-27 at halftime, Gibson’s bucket cut the deficit to just 50-47 with 12:24 remaining in Saturday’s contest against the No. 1 Tigers. The valiant effort wasn’t enough, however, as Oklahoma (13-8, 3-5 Big 12) couldn’t overcome Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC) and fell 86-68 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The loss was OU’s 10th straight against Associated Press No. 1-ranked teams dating back to 2002 when the Sooners defeated then-No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament. The loss marks Oklahoma’s fifth in its last six games, and despite being close in almost all of them, the Sooners haven’t been able to pull off a big win of late.
“We did a lot of smart things, we did a lot of really good things to fight back,” OU head coach Porter Moser said of the loss. “At halftime we were down double figures. … We settled in a little bit (in the second) but then we didn’t settle in the last eight minutes.”
Auburn finished the game on a 36-21 run behind 23 points and a season-high 12 rebounds from forward Jabari Smith, a likely top-3 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. OU also had no answer for Kessler throughout the game, as he finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes of play.
Despite their three-forward starting lineup of senior Tanner Groves and juniors Jalen Hill and Jacob Groves, the Sooners were dominated on the boards by the Tigers 41-29. Auburn snagged 14 offensive rebounds along with its 38 points in the paint.
Redshirt senior guard Jordan Goldwire was one of the few bright spots for Moser’s group on Saturday. A native of Norcross, Georgia — only a two-hour drive from Auburn — Goldwire had 20-plus family and friends present as he scored a career-high 19 points, dished four assists and three steals.
“I thought Jordan Goldwire did as much as he could do to help us win,” Moser said of the Duke transfer known mostly for his facilitating and defense. “He didn’t force stuff, he took stuff when he had it. He changed paces, he was simple, making good plays. (He had) only one turnover in a heated atmosphere when they can get you sped up.”
Gibson added 14 points and two 3-pointers on 5-for-11 shooting while Tanner Groves delivered 13 points and two 3-pointers as well. Redshirt senior forward Ethan Chargois was a welcome sight off the bench for Moser, scoring eight points in his first game back from an ankle injury. Before Saturday’s game, Chargois last played against Texas on Jan. 11.
“I thought Ethan did a really nice job when he was in there,” Moser said of the SMU transfer and Tulsa native. “We really missed Ethan. You can tell he gets the offense flowing. He had some nice passes and a couple back cuts. He’s got to get his wit and physicality back into the game, but it was good to get him back.”
OU’s schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. The Sooners have only a 48-hour turnaround before they face TCU which defeated No. 19 LSU on Saturday.
“We obviously wanted this game,” Goldwire said. “But, Big 12 play starts back up on Monday, short turnaround. So we’ve just got to re-focus, lock in and do what we need to do to get that win at home on Monday.”
Oklahoma and the Horned Frogs tip off at 8 p.m. on Jan. 31 in Norman. TCU previously defeated OU 59-58 on Jan. 15 in Fort Worth.
“We’ve got a job to do,” Moser said. “We’ve got to put together, in a short turnaround, a game plan. The players have a job to do. … They’ve got to walk into our film, our walkthrough tomorrow with an edge.
“We’ve all got to come together and do our job and we’ll meet tomorrow.”
