Kuol Atak scored a career-high 24 points and Xzayvier Brown recorded 22 to lead Oklahoma to a 93-69 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Monday in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners (10-3) have won four consecutive games and eight of their last nine heading into SEC play.
The Delta Devils have dropped 12 consecutive games.
Though Mississippi Valley State came in having lost by an average of nearly 30 points per game during its losing streak, the Delta Devils gave Oklahoma fits in the first half as both teams got off to blistering starts offensively.
MVSU hit 10 of its first 14 attempts, hitting seven consecutive shots, to lead 25-23 with just more than seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Three of those shots were back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, the first from Michael James and the last two from Patrick Punch.
But Atak kept the Sooners afloat during that stretch, answering James’ shot with a jumper and matching Punch’s 3-pointers.
A quick 8-0 Oklahoma run after the Delta Devils’ hot stretch ended put the Sooners ahead for good.
Atak had scored in double figures just four times this season, with his previous high of 18 coming in the season-opening win over Saint Francis.
Atak had topped that by halftime, scoring 19 before the break, hitting 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
The Sooners went into the half on a 9-2 run as MVSU went nearly four minutes without a field goal to close the half.
While Atak lifted Oklahoma in the first, Brown took over in the second after going just 2 of 7 from the field before halftime.
After the Delta Devils cut the deficit to five early in the second half, the Sooners steadily stretched the lead until late, starting with a 3-pointer from Brown.
Oklahoma finished 57.9% from the floor, with Nijel Pack adding 13 points and seven assists.
Kirill Elatontsev made his collegiate debut, coming off the bench to play 18 minutes for the Sooners, scoring six points.
Elatontsev, a 6-foot-11 center from Russia, joined Oklahoma recently after being cleared for one semester of eligibility by the NCAA.
James led MVSU (1-13) with 24 points. Punch added 19, but the Delta Devils’ bench was outscored 40-8 by the Sooners’.
–Field Level Media
