Jamuni McNeace scored 16 points as Oklahoma pulled away from North Texas in the second half to beat the Mean Green 73-57 at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., on Tuesday night.
McNeace added 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. He was 5 of 6 from the field. Miles Reynolds came off the bench to score 17 -- 10 in the second half -- for the Sooners, while Brady Manek added 10 points.
Oklahoma struggled to take advantage of North Texas' turnovers in the first half, but in the second half when they pulled away, the Sooners were able to turn the takeaways into points on the other end.
Those included back-to-back steal-and-scores by Oklahoma's two graduate transfer guards late in the second half during an 8-0 run that put the game away.
First, Aaron Calixte stole the ball from Ryan Woolridge in the backcourt and finished it off with a dunk. Right off the inbounds, Reynolds got a steal and finished with a layup to extend the lead to a then game-high 16 points.
North Texas led early in the second half and the game was tied 38-38 with 15 minutes left before a 14-3 Oklahoma run started to put some distance between the Sooners and Mean Green.
Woolridge led the Mean Green with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting while Roosevelt Smart scored 13 off the bench. Zachary Simmons had 12 rebounds.
North Texas struggled across the board from the field, shooting just 27.5 percent from the floor (19 of 69). The Mean Greenās starters were even worse from the floor, shooting just 13 of 52 (25 percent).
North Texas was just 6 of 26 from behind the 3-point line.
Oklahoma was 47.2 percent from the floor, including 53.3 percent in the second half.
It was the Mean Green's first loss in nine games this season.
The Sooners were able to escape with a win even with just nine points from Christian James, the Big 12's leading scorer. James got into foul trouble early and played a season-low 20 minutes.
--Field Level Media
North Texas | Oklahoma | |
Ryan Woolridge 17 | Scoring | Miles Reynolds 17 |
Michael Miller 3 | Assists | Christian James 4 |
Zachary Simmons 12 | Rebounds | Jamuni McNeace 10 |
Ryan Woolridge 4 | Free Throws Made | Jamuni McNeace 6 |
Umoja Gibson 4 | Steals | Brady Manek 3 |
Ryan Woolridge 1 | Blocks | Brady Manek 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Texas | 57 | 27.5 | 6-26 | 13-17 | 8 | 37 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
Oklahoma | 73 | 47.2 | 6-17 | 17-33 | 12 | 37 | 4 | 8 | 16 |