Moser apologizes after Oklahoma stunned by East Texas A&M in season opener

NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma men's basketball coach Porter Moser apologized to Sooners fans Monday night after his team opened the season with a stunning 68-64 loss to East Texas A&M at Lloyd Noble Center.

"The only thing I know to do is apologize to the fan base and get better," Moser said. "I apologize to every single person that came in."

The loss was historic based on the betting line.

Oklahoma closed as a 28.5-point favorite at DraftKings, according to ESPN.

ESPN Research said it was the second-largest upset in Division I men's basketball over the past 30 years based on point spread.

The largest came in December 2022, when 30.5-point underdog Eastern Illinois defeated Iowa.

East Texas A&M never trailed after taking a 13-12 lead with 12:59 remaining in the first half.

Oklahoma rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit and tied the game at 58 and again at 60, but never regained the lead.

Moser pointed to 15 turnovers, 15 missed free throws and a significant difference in 3-point shooting as factors in the loss.

"The things you do in a game like this in basketball that get you beat, we did," Moser said. "We had 15 turnovers, 15 missed free throws."

East Texas A&M made 11 of 27 attempts from 3-point range, while the Sooners went 5 of 20.

"We played on our heels the whole night," Moser said. "They got us on our heels, and we stayed on our heels. We tried to make a comeback, but being on our heels and playing not to lose, not good enough. And that's on me."

Oklahoma also entered the game without its leading returning scorer, Xzayvier Brown, who was ruled out with a lower-body injury.

Moser said he learned about an hour before the game that Brown would not play.

Moser acknowledged the late change affected an offense that had spent the offseason practicing with Brown in a leading role, but he repeatedly refused to use the injury as an excuse.

"Yes, it really impacted us. Yes, we should have found a way to win," Moser said. "I don't care who's out, who's in, who hasn't played. It's on me. We're gonna fix it."

Moser described Brown as Oklahoma's "No. 1 tempo guy" and said the Sooners struggled to establish their preferred pace without him.

"We just didn't get the tempo going to where we got them on our heels consistently," Moser said. "I didn't like the tempo. I didn't like the pace of downhill."

Moser did not know immediately after the game how long Brown might be sidelined, saying he needed to learn more about the extent of the injury.

East Texas A&M's Bo Aldridge led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Mohamed Diakite and Alonzo Dodd each added 15 for the Lions.

Moser, who said Oklahoma had recruited Aldridge, called him "the best player on the floor."

"I don't want to take away anything from East Texas A&M," Moser said. "I knew the skill level they were gonna play with. I knew the effort they were gonna play with."

Pop Isaacs led Oklahoma with 15 points, while Derrion Reid finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The loss snapped Oklahoma's run of 30 consecutive nonconference home victories. The Sooners had also won 22 of their previous 23 season openers.

Moser said his message afterward centered on accepting responsibility for the loss rather than attempting to minimize it.

"There's no running away from this loss," Moser said. "We've got to own it, and I'm gonna own it. I'm gonna be in front of the pack owning this."

He said Oklahoma now has to determine how it responds.

"There's only one way to move forward," Moser said. "Swallow this and own it."

Oklahoma returns to action Friday when it hosts Mississippi Valley State.

ESPN and the Associated Press contributed to this article.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.