Javian McCollum leads newly unranked Oklahoma past No. 21 BYU 82-66

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Sam Godwin drops in and-1 for Oklahoma

Sam Godwin drops in the smooth basket

Feb 7, 2024, 05:39 am

NORMAN, Okla. -- — Javian McCollum scored 20 points, including 15 in the second half, and Oklahoma beat No. 21 BYU 82-66 on Tuesday night.

Milos Uzan had 16 points and Rivaldo Soares added 12 for Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5 Big 12), which dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in 10 weeks on Monday.

McCollum converted six free throws down the stretch and made a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Sooners, who shot 49% from the field and went 23 of 29 from the free-throw line.

“I thought we executed really well,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “I thought we did some really good things to keep answering the bell instead of going cold for so long offensively, which we’ve done. For us to have that kind of defensive performance, we needed it on this night.”

Fousseyni Traore led BYU (16-6, 4-5) with 21 points and Dallin Hall finished with 17 for the Cougars, who had won two straight.

Oklahoma held Jaxson Robinson, BYU’s leading scorer, to eight points on 2-of-8 shooting. The Cougars shot 35.9% from the field.

“It was one of those really frustrating nights in terms of finishing for us,” BYU coach Mark Pope said. “But that happens, and you need to be able to overcome it. We just couldn’t overcome it tonight.”

Both teams shot poorly to start the game. BYU led 31-25 with 4:53 left in the first half, but Oklahoma went on a 9-3 run to pull even at the break. OU held the Cougars without a point for the final 3:35.

Before the game, OU held a moment of silence for country singer-songwriter Toby Keith. The 62-year-old Oklahoma native, who died Monday after suffering from stomach cancer, was an ardent supporter of OU athletics.

“Today’s a tough day for Sooner Nation,” Moser said. “We lost a dear friend in Toby Keith. I just want to say our guys played their hearts out for Toby Keith tonight to get this win and I know he was looking down on us tonight.”

BIG PICTURE

BYU: Robinson played in his home state for the first time in his college career, which includes stops at Texas A&M and Arkansas. Robinson is a native of Ada, about 63 miles southwest of Norman.

Oklahoma: The Sooners played as an unranked team for the first time since Nov. 27, when they moved into the poll at No. 25. OU started 10-0 and rose as high as No. 7 on Dec. 18, but has gone 7-6 since.

UP NEXT

BYU: Hosts Kansas State on Saturday night.

Oklahoma: Hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball