NORMAN, Okla. - Lindenwood men's basketball (0-1, 0-0 OVC) suffered a 33-point loss on Monday to begin the season as Oklahoma (1-0, 0-0 SEC) defeated the Lions by a final score of 93-60. The Sooners held the Lions to 35.4% shooting from the field and 16.7% from three-point range.

"I thought we played hard and with a purpose for a long time tonight," said head coach Kyle Gerdeman. "Losing Reggie (Bass) for the second half made things a little harder, but I thought we had some guys gain some valuable experience in game one. We will learn a lot from this as we move forward on the season."

Freshman Jadis Jones showed why he is the reigning Missouri Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year after posting a double-double in his first career start. Jones shot 3-8 from the floor and 4-4 from the line on his way to 10 points. The true freshman also grabbed 10 rebounds including five on the offensive glass. He is the first Lion to post a double-double on opening night since Romelo Burrell during the 2021-22 season.

Milwaukee transfer Markeith Browning II attacked the rim all-night against OU leading the team in points with 14. Browning shot 7-18 from the floor while grabbing four boards. Reggie Bass and Anias Futrell both scored seven while Colin Ruffin added five points, three rebounds and two assists.

Oklahoma shot 52.3% from the field on Monday evening while draining 14 threes. The Sooners only averaged 7.5 made threes a season ago as they shot 41.2% from behind the arc. Jalon Moore led the way for OU after scoring 22 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Sam Godwin also had 11 points and 15 rebounds for Oklahoma.

Browning got the scoring underway with the first bucket of the season just over a minute in. Oklahoma would then go on a 9-0 run to open up an early seven-point lead. Jordan Wildy got in the scoring column from long range as he cashed in a three to cut the lead to 9-7. Wildy had one of LU's four triples.

With 10:59 remaining in the first half, Oklahoma would open up an 11 point lead after Godwin scored on a fast break dunk off a missed layup by Nathan Johnson Jr. The Sooners would go on a 15-3 run to open up a 23-point lead with 6:08 remaining (the largest lead of the first half).

The Lions responded going on an 11-0 run which included five points from Bass. Jones ended the half for Lindenwood with a jumper to cut the lead to 43-29. Going into the break, Jones had six points and seven rebounds while Bass added seven points.

Oklahoma came out of halftime draining four triples as the increased their lead to 21 points with 15:22 left on the clock. Duke Miles for the Sooners shot lights out in the second half cashing in on 12 points with four triples.

Although Lindenwood was more efficient from the field in the second half (43.0% FG), Oklahoma's offense was too much as they shot 18-29 from the field in the final 20 minutes including nine threes.

Both teams were even on the offensive glass with Lindenwood and Oklahoma pulling down 11 offensive boards each. OU won the rebounding battle overall with 43 to just 31 by the Lions. The Sooners scored 29 points on fast break opportunities to just six by Lindenwood.

Lindenwood's bench scored 17 points including five each from Wildy and Ruffin. The Lions' defense forced the Sooners into 12 turnovers resulting in 14 points. Futrell also led the team in blocks with two.

More Lindenwood basketball action is in store this week as the Lions will host UHSP on Thursday, Nov. 7th inside Hyland Arena at 6:00 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.