Oklahoma against Alabama on Jan. 28, 2023. Oklahoma forward Tanner Groves (35) celebrates with fans as they rush the court after The Oklahoma Sooners (OU) beat The Alabama Crimson Tide at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. Ou Vs Alabama Syndication The Oklahoman
College BasketballBy Andrew Bucholtz on

One of the biggest upsets of this men’s college basketball season came Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. There, the unranked hometown Sooners emphatically thumped the visiting No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, posting a 93-69 victory (and a court-storming aftermath seen above):

As CBS Sports’ college basketball feed mentioned on Twitter, this was the worst margin of defeat ever for a top-two team against an unranked team:

And as Oklahoma associate AD Mike Houck noted, this was this Sooners’ team’s best result ever (by margin of victory) against an AP Top 5 opponent:

As Kyle Boone wrote at CBS Sports, this was a day where many things went right for the Sooners and wrong for the Tide:

OU had just about everything working for it against the Tide after entering the day on a three-game losing streak in which almost nothing was going right. Nevada transfer guard Grant Sherfield was the accelerant that poured gasoline on the blowout fire with a season-high 30 points to go along with six assists. He got plenty of help, too, with Jalen Hill pouring in 26 points and the team shooting a combined 9 of 13 from 3-point range against an Alabama defense that ranked No. 2 nationally in 3-point shooting percentage allowed on the season.

This was a remarkable showing from Oklahoma. And it came with a lot of highlights. Here are a couple:

The Sooners are 12-9 this season after this win. They next face the in-state Oklahoma State Cowboys on Wednesday.

[CBS Sports; photo from Nathan G. Fish/The Oklahoman, via USA Today Sports]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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