Bell Notches First Double-Double as No. 21 Oklahoma Routs Morgan State, 95-38, in Home Opener

No. 21 Oklahoma made Lloyd Noble Center feel like home again on Sunday afternoon, overwhelming Morgan State 95-38 in front of 3,535 fans to improve to 2-0 on the season and 6-0 in home openers under head coach Jennie Baranczyk.

The Sooners scored on their opening possession and never trailed, holding the lead for 39:47 of the 40 minutes played. Oklahoma pushed its margin to 17 by the end of the first quarter and carried a 21-point lead into halftime. After the break, the Sooners’ defense smothered Morgan State, allowing just 17 second-half points. The 57-point win was the third-largest margin of victory in a home opener in program history and the largest since 2011. It also moved OU to 41-11 all-time in home openers and stretched its winning streak against unranked opponents to 33 games.

“I thought the balance of what we were able to do today was really fun,” Baranczyk said. “You could tell we were really looking for each other, and I’m really proud of the way that we were able to play today together as a team.”

True freshman LeeLee Bell followed up her historic 25-point debut against No. 12 North Carolina in Paris earlier in the week with her first career double-double, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds. The Minot, N.D., product became the first Sooner freshman since Taylor Robertson in 2018-19 to open her career with back-to-back 20-point performances, and her four steals made her the first Sooner to post at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in a game since Teresa Schuknecht in 2002. Bell was efficient at the line as well, going 7-of-8, and finished with a game-best +43 plus-minus.

“It was amazing,” Bell said of the season-opening trip to Paris. “It was a great experience for me as a freshman, with everyone else too.” Back in Norman, she credited her teammates for helping her settle in. “I think just being patient with the ball, this is a whole new experience for me,” Bell said. “But I think with my team and being able to stay connected and keep looking for each other, it helps me out, and it also helps them out.”

Baranczyk described her freshman as a three-level scorer who plays more like a guard, a skill set Bell said came from a late growth spurt. “Not a lot of people get to grow up small and be a guard and then translate to the post,” Bell said. “So I think that helps out my versatility a lot now.” Baranczyk added that the game will get more physical for Bell as the season goes on, and Bell said she welcomes it. “It’s going to get physical for me,” she said. “So I think that’s a challenge that I’m ready to accept, and I’m ready for it.”

Fifth-year forward Sa’Myah Smith did plenty of damage in limited minutes, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. The DeSoto, Texas, product shot 8-of-9 from the field, including a perfect mark inside the 3-point arc, and finished with a +21 plus-minus. Freshman Sina Höllerl provided the spark from the perimeter, knocking down a team-high three 3-pointers on her way to 13 points off the bench as the Austrian helped Oklahoma finish 8-of-30 from beyond the arc.

Oklahoma played without sophomore guard Aaliyah Chavez, and Caya Smith made her first career start in her place, contributing four points, five rebounds and four assists in 21 minutes. After the game, Baranczyk said Chavez’s status was day-to-day. “We were hopeful that we’d get her back for this game and we didn’t,” Baranczyk said. “And so hopefully we do the next game.” She noted that the Sooners had to adjust to more than just Chavez’s absence as Morgan State threw multiple defenses at them, including zone. “It’s not just managing without Aaliyah,” Baranczyk said. “You had to put different people in different positions. Caya Smith continues to just grow at a rapid rate for us. She’s seeing things that she hadn’t seen a year before, and every year she continues to get better.”

Sophomore Keziah Lofton directed the offense in just her second career start, tallying eight points and seven assists without a turnover while finishing with a +36 plus-minus. Lofton became the ninth Sooner of the Baranczyk era to record at least seven assists without a turnover in a game. “Her ball awareness, or understanding of basketball with the ball and without the ball, has grown just a phenomenal amount,” Baranczyk said. “She doesn’t even know really how good she is.” Bell said the guards’ response set the tone. “They knew we had one player down, but that’s what we do,” she said. “We come in and help each other.”

The production came from up and down the roster, as nine Sooners made multiple field goals and eight scored at least five points. Oklahoma’s bench outscored Morgan State’s reserves 46-18, and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu added 11 rebounds in 14 minutes. The Sooners controlled the glass from start to finish, outrebounding the Bears 58-23, and the +35 margin was their largest since posting a +36 advantage against East Texas A&M in November 2025. That work on the boards turned into a 29-6 edge in second-chance points, while Oklahoma also dominated in the paint (46-12), in transition (27-5) and in points off turnovers (31-10). “We shared the load,” Baranczyk said, “and that’s Oklahoma basketball.”

Defensively, the Sooners were just as relentless. Oklahoma held Morgan State to 23.5% shooting (12-of-51) and 3-of-22 from 3-point range, marking the eighth time a Baranczyk-led team has held an opponent below 25% from the field, including seven times since the start of the 2025-26 season. “That’s one thing we really strive to focus on, is defense,” Bell said. “I think if we focus on defense and go at them hard, our offense will come very easily.”

With the win, Oklahoma extended its winning streak when leading at halftime to 24 games and improved to 93-6 when scoring at least 80 points under Baranczyk. Since the start of the Baranczyk era, OU has eclipsed 90 points 54 times, third most in the country.

The Sooners shot 51.5% from the field and scored 28 points in both the first and third quarters before closing out the game with a 25-8 fourth quarter. Oklahoma defeated Morgan State, 95-38.

With seven newcomers and 10 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, Baranczyk said the Sooners are using a packed November slate to build chemistry on the court, particularly among four interior players who were playing just their second game together. “We’re trying to take this whole non-conference to really build our on-court chemistry,” Baranczyk said. “We’re heading where we need to. We’re not there yet, but you’re not supposed to be.”

Oklahoma returns to action Tuesday at 6 p.m. against San Jose State in Norman. The Spartans are led by former OU assistant coach Jonas Chatterton and feature former Sooner Jordan Moser, the daughter of Oklahoma men’s basketball head coach Porter Moser, on their coaching staff. The contest will air on SEC Network+.