Jeremiah Fears four-point play erases Michigan's late lead: Wolverines fall to Oklahoma, 87-86

Michigan Wolverines basketball was on the verge of handing Oklahoma its first loss of the season, up three points with under 30 seconds to go. But with 11.5 on the clock, Sooner freshman guard Jeremiah Fears hit a deep three while being fouled, capitalizing at the foul line for a four-point play to give his team a one-point lead. Michigan couldn’t create any magic of its own at the buzzer, falling 87-86.

FEARS FROM DEEEEEEEP 👌

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— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) December 19, 2024

Michigan is now 8-3, with its three losses coming by a combined five points. The Wolverines are back in action Sunday at Crisler Center, hosting Purdue Fort Wayne.

Here’s a recap of how the game unfolded.

First half

Michigan got off to a strong start offensively, getting to the rim and grabbing 3 early offensive rebounds. But a pair of turnovers led to four points on the other end, and Oklahoma led 10-6 until Michigan graduate center Vladislav Goldin made his second layup, making it 10-8. He drew a charge on the ensuing defensive possession, prompting the first media timeout. Michigan had scored all eight of its points in the paint.

Michigan surged with a 15-3 run that sparked a timeout by Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser at the 12:05 mark, with the Wolverines leading 21-13. Goldin had 8 of Michigan’s first 21 points, junior forward/center Danny Wolf contributed 7 and junior guard Tre Donaldson got on the board with a nifty move to finish at the rim. The Maize and Blue made 10 of their first 15 shots from the field and were 9-of-10 from inside the arc.

The two teams played at a furious pace in the middle of the first half. Oklahoma continued to find success from beyond the arc, making 6 of their first 7 from deep, highlighted by a pair of right corner threes from backup forward Glenn Taylor Jr.

Conversely, Michigan’s hot shooting from inside the arc, making 13 of its first 16 two-point field goal attempts, kept the Wolverines out in front. Michigan also racked up 6 offensive rebounds in the first 12:30 of game play. The Wolverines led 31-26 at the under-8 media timeout, following a fallaway jumper by Goldin as the shot clock buzzer sounded. He had 14 points at that juncture.

Michigan’s big men scored 26 of the team’s first 35 points (Goldin with 16, Wolf with 10) as the Wolverines led 35-30 at the under-4 timeout. Oklahoma hadn’t scored in over two minutes at that point, and the pace was much slower than several minutes earlier.

Oklahoma center Sam Godwin, who had 2 points, 3 offensive rebounds and 1 assist in the first half, committed his second foul at the 4:45 mark. That put him on the bench. Goldin, meanwhile, picked up his second going for a loose ball with 2:33 left in the half.

Michigan went with a big lineup with sophomore forward Sam Walters at the ‘3’ and while he missed his first three three-point attempts, he drilled one to put the Wolverines up 39-32 with just under two minutes remaining in the half.

Donaldson heated up at the end of the half, getting to the rim and making a couple free throws before driving in for a layup to put the Wolverines up 43-36 with 33 seconds on the ticker. Oklahoma made a two on its final possession of the half, and the score was 43-38 at the break.

Michigan went 9-of-11 on layups but shot 17-of-34 overall, with head coach Dusty May telling ESPN at halftime that the Wolverines settled for too many threes. They went 2-of-14 from deep, with Walters posting a 1-of-5 mark.

Oklahoma stayed in the game by going 6-of-12 on threes, making 6 of their first 7 attempts from deep, and getting to the free throw line to make 8 foul shots. Point guard Jeremiah Fears had 10 points, 7 of which came at the line.

Second half

Fears pull-up, mid-range jumper got the half started (43-40), and the guard Duke Miles tied the game up at 43-43 less than a minute into the stanza.

Oklahoma forward Jalon Moore hit a pair of threes when left open in the first half but wasn’t having a great night overall. He picked up his third personal foul on a moving screen at the 17:41 mark, so he went to the bench. He was shooting 2-of-7 from the field at that point.

Michigan, meanwhile, went on another spurt. The Wolverines strung together some stops and got going with junior guard Roddy Gayle Jr. scoring seven-straight points to make it a 9-0 run that gave the Wolverines a 52-43 advantage at the under-16 media timeout.

Moore checked back in the game after the media timeout, and he hit his third three-pointer of the game, this one from the right wing to cut the Sooner deficit to 54-46.

After a pair of free throws by at the 11:43 mark, Oklahoma trailed by only three points, 58-55. Michigan could’ve created more separation but continued to miss jump shots, starting the half 0-of-7 from three-point distance.

Michigan graduate guard Rubin Jones made a left wing three to put the Wolverines up 66-57, and the next time down Donaldson finished another layup. Oklahoma called timeout as Michigan led 68-57 with 9:57 to go.

Fears got in the lane for a floater and then nailed a three-pointer the next time down to cut Oklahoma’s deficit to 70-66 with under eight minutes to play, marking a 9-2 run. The 6-foot-4 freshman had 21 points at that juncture, one of two Sooners in double figures along with Moore (16).

Miles hit another big three to make it a 71-69 game, but Michigan answered with a Wolf-to-Goldin ball screen strike to the middle of the lane. Goldin made the bunny and drew the foul for a three-point play. The Wolverines were up 74-69 with under seven to go.

Oklahoma kept its momentum going with an extended 19-6 run, though, with Miles drilling a three from the right corner to give the Sooners their first lead since early in the first half. That was the Sooners’ 11th three of the game, while Michigan had only made 4.

Just before the triple, a bad pass by Wolf led to two on the other end for Oklahoma. Michigan gave it away again right after, before Fears made a layup to put Oklahoma up four, 78-74.

Michigan graduate guard Nimari Burnett crashed hard on a Gayle missed shot, corralled the rebound and put it back for two. Michigan trailed 82-80, and Burnett drew a charge on Fears on the ensuing defensive possession. That prompted the media timeout with 2:26 to play.

Goldin made a left-handed layup to tie the game, then he got a deflection on the other end to create a transition opportunity. Burnett went up for a fast-break layup and was fouled. He made both free throws to give Michigan an 84-82 edge at 1:51..

Goldin made his fifth and sixth free throws of the night to put Michigan up 86-83 after he grabbed an offensive rebound. Oklahoma called timeout with 1:11 left but turned it over coming out of it.

The Wolverines didn’t take advantage, though, and still led by three when Oklahoma got the ball back with the shot clock off. Fears came off a dribble handoff and hit a deep three while being fouled by Gayle. He made the free throw for the four-point play, giving the Sooners an 87-86 advantage with 11.5 to go.

Donaldson tried a three from the right wing, and while Wolf got the offensive rebound, his fallaway shot at the buzzer didn’t hit rim. Oklahoma remained undefeated with an 87-86 victory, highlighted by 30 points from Fears, with 20 of them coming in the second half.

Michigan vs. Oklahoma box score