Dec. 17—It started with a layup for Jacob Groves.

The senior posted up and made an easy bucket to give Oklahoma an early four-point lead. He then hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 10 points, capping an 8-0 run by himself that forced Central Arkansas to take a timeout.

He didn’t stop there, scoring 19 of his career-high 26 points in the first half to give the Sooners a 22-point halftime lead. Grant Sherfield was the only other Sooner to score double-digit points in the first half.

It was a versatile and scoring effort for Groves. He was effective inside the paint and beyond the arc, as the Sooners routinely looked for him on post-ups and spotting up on the 3-point line. He made 10-of-13 shot attempts, including 4-of-6 from the three-point line, and finished with three dunks.

Groves’ scoring led the Sooners to an 87-76 win over Central Arkansas on Saturday, helping them bounce back from last week’s loss to Arkansas.

“I’ve been waiting for a day like that to come,” Groves said. “It’s hard and sometimes your days just come and you’re hitting shots, you’re making plays and stuff like that. I think obviously my teammates do a great job of finding me when I’m hot, getting me the ball, putting me in positions where I can score. And so it just happened to be my day today.”

That scoring punch from Groves helped the Sooners build an early lead, but also proved to be helpful in keeping the Bears at arm’s length.

The Bears shot just 45 percent from the floor but their volume 3-point shooting kept them in it. They made 11-of-34 3-pointers, with seven of them coming in the second half, and even cut the lead to 12 midway through the second half.

The Sooners made enough plays defensively down the stretch. Groves also helped defensively, recording two of his three steals late in the second half to help the Sooners put the Bears away.

The offense did its part, too, and it wasn’t just Groves. The Sooners shot 64 percent (35-55) as a team, made 9-of-18 3-point attempts and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.

Sherfield chipped in with 17 points (6-of-9 shooting), Tanner Groves finished with 14 points and freshman Otega Oweh added 10.

Saturday marked the third straight game the Sooners have shot 57 percent or better from the field, which Sherfield said is a testament to the team developing chemistry.

“Even in practice with our five-on-zero stuff, we’re just flowing in our offense real crisp,” Sherfield said. “Everything’s flowing well. And with guys making shots, Jake, everybody on our team, we put a lot of work in, put a lot of time in on our games. So I feel like that’s all paying off.”

Tip-ins —No points, no problem: Saturday marked the third start of the season for Milos Uzan, who finished with zero points after scoring 11 and 15, respectively, in his first two starts.

However, he added a teamhigh nine assists against the Bears. He’s now recorded 19 assists in his three starts.

OU coach Porter Moser said Uzan turned his ankle earlier in the week but still played despite being less than fully healthy.

“So for him to come out and still have nine assists and two turnovers, I thought he did a good job with that,” Moser said —Injury updates: Moser said sophomore guard Yaya Keita will miss the remainder of the season due to shin surgery.

Freshman guard Benny Schröder wasn’t available Saturday due to an ankle sprain he suffered in practice earlier this week, though Moser is confident it’s a short-term injury.

—Looking ahead: The Sooners improved to 8-3 on the season with the win.

They’ll head to Florida for a game on Dec. 20 before starting conference play at home against Texas on Dec. 31.