The Oklahoma Sooners were on fire in the first half and first 10 minutes of the second half as they built an 18-point lead against the No. 9/10 Texas A&M Aggies.

But the Aggies’ defense stepped up, limiting the Sooners to just eight points in the game’s final 8 1/2 minutes before squandering an electrifying performance from guard Brycen Goodine.

Goodine led the Sooners with 34 points on 10 of 14 shooting, including nine 3-pointers, but Oklahoma couldn’t take advantage.

After losing their big lead in the second half, the Sooners clawed their way back to the lead with just under 30 seconds left in the game. True freshman star Jeremiah Fears went to the foul line for a one-and-one with a chance to give the Sooners the lead, but missed the front half.

And Oklahoma had no answer for Zhuric Phelps, who matched Goodine with 34 points. When Phelps had the ball after Fears’ free throw, he shook off Glen Taylor Jr. and hit a wide-open three-pointer to bring the Aggies within two points. The Sooners had one more possession to try to tie the game, but Oklahoma was unable to find a shot as Duke Miles’ floater missed the target with two seconds left in the game.

The Sooners turned the ball over 10 times in the second half and were outrebounded again, including nine times on the offensive boards.

It’s a disappointing result for a Sooners team that was hoping to bounce back from a tough loss to Alabama. The Sooners failed to close like they often did in the Porter-Moser era. Now OU is 0-2 in SEC play and has lost two straight since starting the season at 13-0.

Next up for the Sooners is a trip to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X and like our page Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.

This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: The Oklahoma Sooners let their 18-point lead slip and lost to Texas A&M 80-78