Sooners lose to No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats at home

NORMAN — Jalon Moore scored 20 points and Jeremiah Fears tallied 18 points and eight rebounds to lead Oklahoma, but the Sooners fell to No. 17 Kentucky 83-82 on Wednesday night at Lloyd Noble Center.

OU (17-11 overall, 4-11 in Southeastern Conference play) led 68-63 with 9:40 remaining and took an 80-79 lead on a Glenn Taylor Jr. 3-point basket with 1:45 to go, but Kentucky (19-9, 8-7) scored four of the last six points, including a basket with six seconds left to win in its first-ever game in Norman.

Oklahoma trailed 43-41 at halftime and was down 56-49 with 14:48 left to play but closed to 58-57 by the 13:27 mark on a Brycen Goodine 3-pointer. Kobe Elvis made a trey with 12:12 remaining to tie the game at 60-all.

The Sooners took a 64-63 lead with 10:44 remaining when Goodine stole an inbounds pass and fed it to Fears who made a driving lay-up. OU’s lead grew to 68-63 on a lay-up by Taylor with 9:40 to play.

Kentucky tied the game at 71-all with 6:46 to play, and the game stayed close the rest of the way. Fears made a floater with 2:22 remaining to tie the game at 77-all, and Moore gave the Sooners an 82-81 lead on a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining.

OU shot 53 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc in the game, and made 7-of-13 3-pointers while shooting 58 percent from the field in the second half. It marked the sixth time in eight SEC home games for the Sooners to shoot better than 50 percent. The Wildcats shot 50 percent from the field and made just 7-of-23 3-point attempts in the game.

Kentucky, which represented OU’s eighth ranked opponent in nine games (the first time OU ever played eight in a nine-game stretch), entered the night with a plus-3.4 average rebounding margin, but the Sooners posted a 34-31 advantage on the glass.

The Sooners will play Mississippi (19-9, 8-7 SEC) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Oxford, Miss.