Pack’s 24 points propel Oklahoma past South Carolina in round one of the SEC tournament

By Canadian Press on March 11, 2026.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nijel Pack scored 24 points shooting 5 for 10 from 3-point range and Oklahoma beat South Carolina 86-74 in an opening-round game of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday.

The 11th-seeded Sooners (18-14) advance to play sixth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday.

Derrion Reid scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, Tae Davis 18 shooting 7 of 10 and Xzayvier Brown 14 shooting 6 of 7. Oklahoma shot 60% (30 of 50).

Kobe Knox scored 20 points, Mike Sharavjamts 19 and Meechie Johnson 14 for 14th-seeded South Carolina (13-19). The Gamecocks shot 41% (25 of 61).

South Carolina built a 29-19 in the game’s first 10 minutes and the Gamecocks led 39-28 after Knox made a 3-pointer with 5:24 before halftime.

Down the stretch, the Sooners outscored South Carolina 14-3 to tie it at 42 at halftime. Oklahoma emerged from the break continuing its offensive spurt and outscored the Gamecocks 13-5 in the first five minutes of the second half and led 56-47.

Johnson’s 3-pointer with 10:52 left brought the Gamecocks within 61-56 but they would never get closer.

Brown’s 3 with 7:53 to go made it 70-60 and Oklahoma led by double digits for the remainder.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

The Associated Press