Jeremiah Fears' heroics keeps OU basketball undefeated
You can do everything right, but when you have somebody like OU freshman Jeremiah Fears, sometimes, it simply doesn’t matter.
OU fans got to experience that in a huge way Wednesday night.
Fears earned a four-point play with 11.5 seconds left to cap a wild and entertaining 87-86 win against No. 24 Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte.
OU trailed by as many as 11 at 69-58 but led 82-78 with more than three minutes to go. But Michigan put the clamps down defensively, and Fears had a couple of crucial turnovers.
The Wolverines led 86-83 with 23 seconds left. OU head coach Porter Moser called a pretty nice play to free up Brycen Goodine for a 3-pointer in the corner. But Michigan scouted it well, stoned him along the corner.
OU reset. Fears used a pick from Sam Godwin to get the space for a deep 3-pointer and was fouled. Nailed the free throw, and Michigan could not come up with the game-winner on the other end.
Whew, take a breath.
The Sooners are 11-0 for the first time since 2015-16, the season OU went to the Final Four.
Game No. 11 OU Takeaways
*Fears was sensational, especially after a slow start. He only had three points toward the end of the first half when he willed himself to the free throw line time and time again.
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He scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half and showed tremendous maturity to simply shake off some crucial errors down the stretch.
Unflappable.
*Fears had some help, most notably from Duke Miles and Jalon Moore. Miles was a key catalyst during that late-second half run. Moore did a lot of big-time work in the first part of the second half.
Moore scored 10 of his 16 after the break before fouling out. Miles had 17 points, including making three 3-pointers.
OU shot 12-for-25 from 3-point territory.
Up next
OU has a chance to really move up the rankings. One of four undefeated teams left and positioning itself to be undefeated going into SEC play. The 14th-ranked Sooners (11-0) host Central Arkansas at noon Sunday.
