NORMAN, Okla. — If you were looking for the nightmare scenario to start Year 6 of the Porter Moser era, Monday night at the Lloyd Noble Center was it.

Oklahoma opened the 2026–27 season on the receiving end of a stunning, historic 68-64 upset loss to East Texas A&M. You want to talk about a bad loss? East Texas A&M was picked to finish dead last in the Southland Conference preseason poll. Coming into the night, the Lions were 0-12 all-time against SEC programs. Even after pulling off the shocker in Norman, KenPom has them ranked 233rd in the country.

Yet, for 40 minutes on their home floor, the Sooners looked completely out of rhythm and utterly unprepared for the fight.

Granted, OU was missing its engine. Preseason leader and starting point guard Xzayvier Brown sat out with a minor lower-body knee injury, and his absence was felt immediately. Without Brown to direct traffic, the Sooners sputtered out of the gate, digging a nine-point halftime hole and eventually trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half.

OU had zero answers defensively for East Texas A&M guard Bo Aldridge, who carved up the baseline for a game-high 22 points, while Alonzo Dodd and Mohamed Diakite added 15 points apiece to keep the pressure on.

Texas A&M transfer Pop Isaacs led Oklahoma in scoring during his crimson and cream debut, dropping 15 points and 3 assists, while Villanova transfer big man Duke Brennan chipped in 9 points and 4 boards in the paint. Behind Isaacs and a relentless effort from freshman Derrion Reid—who posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double—the Sooners mounted a furious second-half run, locking the game up at 58-58 with under five minutes left. But the rally ran completely out of gas. A punctuation-mark dunk by Diakite in the final two minutes put the Lions back on top, and Oklahoma simply couldn't make the plays down the stretch to survive.

When you break down why this happened, it comes down to basic execution: OU left 15 points on the charity stripe, finishing a putrid 17-of-32 (53.1%) from the free-throw line, while shooting just 25% from three-point range.

The defeat snapped Oklahoma’s 30-game non-conference home winning streak and handed the program just its second season-opening loss in the last 24 years. For a program backed by an estimated $15M to $17.5M in roster resources and facing an absolute postseason mandate, dropping a home opener to a sub-200 KenPom team isn't just an ugly mark on the resume—it puts immediate, searing heat on the sideline from Day 1.

UP NEXT: The Sooners will look to get back on track this Friday, when they face Mississippi Valley State at historic McCasland Field House.

Source: Yahoo Sports