An unusual court greeted the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Thursday night as the Golden Lions suffered a tough loss to a ranked opponent.
The UAPB men's basketball team fell 107-86 at Oklahoma in the first of four-straight road games.
UAPB (4-5) guard Kylen Milton scored a game-high 24 points. Rashad Williams scored 20, and Joe French scored 14, but most of their points came in the final minutes against backup defenders. Lonnell Martin Jr. scored 13.
Ismael Plet, coming off a double-double Monday, made his second start of the season. He scored 8 points and collected 10 rebounds.
No. 25 Oklahoma (7-0) hosted this game, which was open only to OU students, at McCasland Field House rather than its normal basketball arena, the Lloyd Noble Center. The gym is typically used for volleyball, and the court is painted accordingly. OU put down white basketball lines, but it was still an unusual visual.
The painted out of bounds area for volleyball started around the free throw line. There were a couple of moments when a player stepped out of bounds which may have been caused by the confusing court layout.
McCasland hosted Sooner basketball from 1928 until 1975, the year the LNC opened. OU hadn't played a regular season basketball game at McCasland since 2012. The school honored former basketball players who had played in the building at halftime.
The unusual court setup didn't bother the hosts. The Sooners shot 57 percent from the field and made 13 of 30 from 3-point range. Otega Oweh led his team with 20 points, followed by Jalon Moore with 19. John Hugley IV scored 15 and collected 10 rebounds.
By contrast, UAPB was held to 43 percent shooting, though the Golden Lions' percentage was in the 30s much of the game.
Rashad Williams gave UAPB an early 3-2 lead, but his shot would be UAPB's only made 3-pointer of the first half. The Golden Lions were 1 of 9 from deep at halftime. UAPB improved in the second half and finished the game 8 of 23, but the early shooting woes put the Golden Lions in a big hole.
OU led 14-10 at the first media timeout, then went on a 16-2 run to put some distance between itself and UAPB. The Golden Lions answered with an 8-0 run before the Sooners pulled away for good. OU led 52-34 at halftime.
The Golden Lions didn't have any runs of greater than 5-0 in the second half. OU led 97-69 with 3:32 to play and started bringing in the reserve players, including head coach Porter Moser's son, Jake Moser.
UAPB outscored OU 17-10 in the final minutes, but the Sooners nonetheless became the third team this season to surpass 100 points against the Golden Lions.