John Hugley IV scored 16 points off the bench to lead Oklahoma to a 90-66 win over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Friday in Norman, Oklahoma.
Hugley, who finished with eight rebounds, scored 10 of his points in the first half, injecting offense after an uneven start for the Sooners.
Rivaldo Soares scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half.
Hugley and Soares combined to go 12 of 17 from the floor. Oklahoma shot 48.5 percent from the field.
Otega Oweh added 14 points, Le’Tre Darthard 13 and Javian McCollum 11 for Oklahoma.
The Sooners outrebounded the Vaqueros 46-28 and outscoring them 14-4 on second-chance points.
Sam Godwin led Oklahoma with 12 rebounds and three blocks.
The game went back and forth for much of the first 12 minutes.
Rio Grande Valley stayed in the game with its defensive pressure early, forcing a spate of Sooners’ turnovers to keep the game tight.
But Oklahoma settled in and ripped off a 10-0 run, helped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jalon Moore and Oweh to take a 35-25 lead with 6:33 left in the half.
The Sooners (4-0) stretched the lead to 14 at the break, scoring the final eight points of the half.
Oklahoma stretched its lead to 18 in the first six minutes of the second half, but the Vaqueros didn’t go quietly. They went on a 14-4 run over a little more than three minutes to pull within 60-52 with 10:35 left in the game.
The Sooners quickly answered with a 15-4 run to finally take control for good.
Elijah Elliott led the Vaqueros with 15 points. DeAnthony Tipler and Hasan Abdul-Hakim added 14 apiece.
Oklahoma is 4-0 for the second time in three seasons. The Sooners scored 90 or more points for the second time this season after reaching the mark just once in each of the last two seasons.
Rio Grande Valley (1-3) has dropped three consecutive games.
–Field Level Media