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OU basketball continues its run, NCAA Tournament bid locked up?

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•03/12/25•

BPrzybylo

Jeremiah Fears33
OU guard Jeremiah Fears. (Steve Roberts - Imagn Images)

SEC Network mentioned it repeatedly about OU head coach Porter Moser. Probably saying what a lot of fans were thinking.

You’re eight minutes away, four minutes away. You are this close to punching your ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Go out there and do it.

And the Sooners did.

Sparked by freshman Jeremiah Fears and center Mo Wague, the Sooner train keeps on rolling with an 81-75 victory against 11th-seeded Georgia on Wednesday night at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

The win gives Moser back-to-back 20-win seasons with the Sooners. And you might finally, seriously, able to breathe that sigh of relief. There should be zero drama on Selection Sunday.

And there should be zero drama because of an out-of-body-experience from Wague. OU, once again without Sam Godwin (MCL), played the game of his season. Heck, maybe his career.

He came up with big play after big play on his way to 12 points and nine rebounds. That’s the hidden contribution that was needed against UGA.

Because you know Jalon Moore and Jeremiah Fears were going to bring it. Moore had 14 points and five rebounds before fouling out. Fears, though, went to that next level from the second half of the first half through the rest of the game.

Five turnovers in the first half, zero when it mattered most. The freshman star finished with 29 points, six rebounds and three steals.

He was the catalyst for the moment. UGA was up 64-58, and Moser wanted Fears to call timeout. Everybody slowed up on the court, except for Fears. He took it straight to the hole and scored.

Fears was on his way to a personal 8-0 run to give OU the lead. The Sooners tacked on eight more for a 16-0 run to turn the six-point deficit to a 10-point advantage at 74-64.

And, again, breathe.

Fears only scored two points in OU’s loss at Georgia two months ago. He is different. This team is different.

And they’re going dancing.

“This is what we’ve worked for,” Moser told SEC Network after the game. “This is where everything matters (under last 4 mins)… And you gotta believe. It was a big win for us.”

Added Fears: “We did a great job of just staying together the whole game… Give credit to our captain, Jalon Moore, for keeping us together the whole game.”

OU (20-12) takes on sixth-seeded Kentucky in the late game Thursday night on SEC Network.

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