No. 11 North Carolina hands No. 7 Oklahoma first loss of season

Field Level Media|published: Wed 20th December, 23:47 2023

Dec 20, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Otega Oweh (3) has his shot blocked by North Carolina Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot (5) during the first half at Spectrum Center. credits: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

RJ Davis scored 23 points and No. 11 North Carolina never trailed on the way to defeating No. 7 Oklahoma 81-69, handing the Sooners their first loss of the season Wednesday night in Charlotte, N.C.

Armando Bacot provided 14 points and eight rebounds, Cormac Ryan posted 13 points and Harrison Ingram added 11 points as the Tar Heels (8-3) fed at times off a partisan crowd in an event that's dubbed the Jumpman Invitational.

North Carolina scored eight of the last 10 points in the game. The outcome snapped a two-game losing streak that involved neutral-site losses to Connecticut and Kentucky.

Otega Oweh pumped in 23 points for the Sooners (10-1), with 10 of his points coming on free throws. Javian McCollum's 14 points and Milos Uzan's 10 points gave Oklahoma a lift, while Jalon Moore didn't score after posting nine first-half points.

Five of North Carolina's first six field goals of the second half were 3-pointers, helping the Tar Heels to a 55-43 lead.

The Tar Heels won despite shooting 43.3 percent from the floor, but they recovered from 2-for-10 shooting on 3s in the first half to go 7-for-12 from deep in the second half. The Sooners shot 30.4 percent from long distance.

Davis had an early scoring touch and regained that again in the second half. He ended up shooting 5-for-9 on 3-pointers.

His biggest one might have come with 2:50 left after Oklahoma pulled within 70-64. But Javian McCollum scored on a drive for the Sooners.

The Sooners might have stayed closer, but they missed eight of their first 22 free-throw attempts. But Oklahoma made a run by trimming a 65-53 hole to 68-61 on Le'Tre Darthard's 3-point basket at the 4:26 mark.

North Carolina led 36-28 at halftime. That effort for the Tar Heels was boosted by a 13-0 edge in fastbreak points in the opening half. Davis had 10 points at the break.

The Sooners shot just 32.3 percent in the first half, a mark that was hurt by 1-for-10 shooting on 3-pointers. Oklahoma had a slight rebound edge (23-19) before halftime, but was harmed by 10 turnovers.

—Field Level Media