Oklahoma (17-10, 4-10 SEC) broke a four-game losing streak while improving its overall record with a 93-87 win over 21st-ranked Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7).
Wise Beyond His Years
Freshman Jeremiah Fears knows how to control all aspects of the game.
Fears finished the game with 27 points (7-12 from the field), five rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
February has been a tough month for Fears on the turnover front. Coming into the Mississippi State game, Fears had three games with five turnovers in the month. Against the Bulldogs, he only committed three.
Fears was much more efficient in this game, partly because he didn't dribble into trouble, which helped him avoid forcing plays that weren't there. Those decisions aren't a box score stat but contribute to winning.
In the last four games, Fears combined for five assists. Against the Bulldogs, he had a career-high 10. A lot of his success came from dribble penetration and making the right decisions on when and where to kick the ball.
Fears capped off his performance by going 11-14 from the free-throw line.
Hubbard Struggles
Yes, Josh Hubbard finished with 19 points, but let's dig deeper.
Hubbard put together a solid first half. He finished the half with 9 points on 2-4 shooting (2-3 from three) with two assists and one turnover.
The second half was a different story.
Hubbard turned back into a player who has a hard time balancing between being a scorer and facilitator. Even though he had 10 points in the second half, he was a lot more inefficient. He shot 2-8 from the field and with three turnovers.
In a game that was as tight as it was, Hubbard's inability to put two solid halves together contributed to the outcome.
Bubble-licious
Despite coming into the Mississippi State game with a 3-10 conference record, Joe Lunardi's Bracketology had the Sooners as the "First Team Out."
Getting a win over the 21st-ranked team in the nation will go a long way in getting Oklahoma on the right side of the bubble if you believe that the committee would put in a team with such a bad conference record.
The schedule still has opportunities for the Sooners.
The final four games are against Kentucky, Ole Miss, Missouri, and Texas. Three of the four times are currently ranked.