SOONERWIRE - In a must-win game to close out their first season in the SEC, the Oklahoma Sooners beat the Texas Longhorns 76-72 in Austin.

It was an improbable win for the Sooners as their top two scorers, Jeremiah Fears and Jalon Moore, shot a combined 4-for-21 from the field and were a combined 0-for-7 from three. But that didn’t slow the Sooners down. Oklahoma received key contributions from the rest of the roster to beat the Longhorns and give Porter Moser his first win over the Longhorns in his tenure as the Sooners’ head coach.

Brycen Goodine led the way with 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 3 of 7 from three-point range. Despite their rough shooting night, Fears and Moore still scored in double figures. Duke Miles had 11 points, and Glenn Taylor, Jr. and Luke Northweather chipped in 10 points apiece off the bench to give the Sooners a lift.

But perhaps the biggest story was the way the Sooners defended projected NBA draft lottery pick Tre Johnson, who finished the night with just seven points on 0-14 shooting. Defensively, Oklahoma held the Longhorns to just 39% shooting. The Sooners forced 11 turnovers, winning the turnover battle by six on the evening.

It was a back-and-forth first half, and the Red River Rivals went into halftime tied at 37. In the second half, the Sooners and Longhorns traded momentum, but OU carried the lead for much of the final 10 minutes. Texas took a 66-65 lead with just under four minutes to play, but Jeremiah Fears responded by getting to the free-throw line and knocked down both to give the Sooners the onepoint lead. Duke Miles had a pivotal three-point play to give Oklahoma a 70-66 lead with 2:42 remaining.

After failing to hold on in late game action against Ole Miss and Kentucky last week, the Sooners were able to make the plays on both ends of the floor to close out a huge win.

The Sooners finished the regular season 19-12 and 6-12 in the SEC. They’ve won two in a row and three of their last five after they suffered a fivegame losing streak, which included losses to top 25 teams Auburn, Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, and a heartbreaker to LSU.

After Saturday’s action, ESPN’s Neil Paine provided an updated look at the tournament bubble. Before the wins over Mizzou and Texas, the Sooners were sitting with a less than 50% chance of making the NCAA Tournament. With their back-to-back wins, the Sooners improved their tournament chances to 72% and were included among teams that “should be in.”

Despite missing starting big man Sam Godwin with a knee injury, Oklahoma survived a brutal back-andforth battle against Texas on Saturday night. The Sooners’ NCAA tournament odds rose sharply from around 50% to 72% with the victory -- not exactly guaranteeing a tourney trip but giving them much more of a path than they seemed to have for most of February. Their résumé was better than we would probably expect from a 12-loss squad anyway: They rank in the mid-40s in both SOR and WAB, with seven wins over top-50 teams and 11 over the top 100, while 11 of their 12 losses have been against top-50 opponents. But the Sooners also went into Saturday ranked a low 14th in the SEC in NET; not even the behemoth of all conferences can accommodate that many tourney entries. That rank might improve after the win at Texas, and Oklahoma can look ahead to the SEC tournament with a first-round matchup against another bubble squad in Georgia.

(Updated March 9 at 8:50 a.m.) - Paine, ESPN Oklahoma’s done enough to make the NCAA Tournament at this point with the way they’ve played the last few weeks. But first comes the SEC tournament, where they’ll take on the Georgia Bulldogs. A win gives the Sooners an opportunity at redemption against the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round.

The SEC Tournament begins on Wednesday, March 14. The Sooners take on the Bulldogs at 8:30 p.m. CT in Nashville, Tennessee.