NORMAN (Interstat) — Oklahoma used a decisive first-half run and a balanced second-half effort to defeat Mississippi Valley State 84-57 on Friday at Lloyd Noble Center in a men’s NCAA Division I basketball game. The Sooners improved to 1-1, while the Delta Devils fell to 0-1. Attendance was 2,086.

The game’s most important stretch came early. Duke Brennan opened the scoring with a layup for Oklahoma, and Gabriel Martinez tied it at 2 with a tip-in for Mississippi Valley State. From there, the Sooners took control with a 20-3 run over roughly eight minutes. Xzayvier Brown made a layup, Derrion Reid converted a driving layup, Dayton Forsythe hit a 3-pointer, BJ Edwards made a 3-pointer, Forsythe hit another 3-pointer, Reid added a layup, Pop Isaacs scored inside, and Reid capped the burst with a 3-pointer that made it 22-5. The Delta Devils went more than eight minutes without a field goal during that stretch, managing only a free throw from Matt Anglo. Oklahoma’s defensive pressure and rebounding limited Mississippi Valley State’s second-chance opportunities even though the Delta Devils finished with 12 offensive rebounds. The run changed the game’s pace, forcing Mississippi Valley State to play from behind and rely on free throws while Oklahoma’s defense settled in.

Mississippi Valley State tried to stay close late in the first half. Martinez made another tip-in, Tymias Williams converted a layup and a free throw, and Anglo made two free throws. But Oklahoma answered each time. Reid made a dunk, Gage Mayfield made a tip-in, and Edwards hit a layup and two 3-pointers. Caleb Cameron made an alley-oop for the Delta Devils, and Anglo hit a 3-pointer, but Reid’s dunk and Williams’ 3-pointer before the buzzer sent the teams into halftime with Oklahoma ahead 38-22. The Sooners shot 33 of 70 from the floor for the game, including 13 of 40 from 3-point range, while the Delta Devils shot 21 of 58 overall and 3 of 18 from beyond the arc.

The second half began with Mississippi Valley State scoring six straight points. Williams made a layup, Cameron added a layup and Eli Pippins hit a pullup jumper to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 38-28. Oklahoma responded with a Reid layup, a Forsythe 3-pointer, and free throws from Edwards and Brennan. Quincy Wadley made a driving layup, Khani Rooths hit a 3-pointer and Pop Isaacs made a 3-pointer as the Sooners rebuilt a comfortable cushion. Mississippi Valley State got a dunk from Cameron, two free throws from Tianhao Wu, a three-point play from Pippins and a layup from Williams, but the Delta Devils could not string together enough stops. The Delta Devils kept competing on the glass, but Oklahoma’s depth and ball movement produced open looks.

Oklahoma put the game away with a 16-5 run midway through the second half. After Mississippi Valley State had trimmed the margin to 58-40, Xzayvier Brown made a 3-pointer, Edwards made a layup, Brennan made a layup, Edwards hit a stepback 3-pointer, Brennan made another layup and Reid made a tip-in to push the lead to 74-45 with 4:20 remaining. The Sooners later got a driving layup from Mayfield, a dunk from Rooths, a 3-pointer from Wadley and a dunk from Yaak Yaak. Mississippi Valley State closed the scoring with a 3-pointer from Pippins, a layup from AJ Abrams and a free throw from Williams.

Tymias Williams led Mississippi Valley State with 19 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 32 minutes. BJ Edwards was Oklahoma’s top star with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Derrion Reid added 17 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes for the Sooners. Quincy Wadley had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists in 12 minutes, while Matt Anglo finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes for the Delta Devils. Dayton Forsythe contributed nine points, two rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes, and Duke Brennan had nine points and four rebounds in 19 minutes for Oklahoma. Caleb Cameron added six points, five rebounds, one assist and one block in 31 minutes for Mississippi Valley State, and Eli Pippins scored eight points with two assists in 25 minutes. Xzayvier Brown had five points, one rebound and seven assists in 27 minutes for the Sooners.

Oklahoma finished with 15 offensive rebounds to Mississippi Valley State’s 12 and had 12 assists to the Delta Devils’ eight. Both teams had four blocks. Oklahoma committed 12 turnovers to Mississippi Valley State’s 17 and was called for 14 fouls to the Delta Devils’ nine. Mississippi Valley State scored 57 points from 71 possessions, an offensive rating of 80.7. Oklahoma scored 84 points from 70 possessions, an offensive rating of 120.3. The Sooners made 5 of 6 free throws, while the Delta Devils made 12 of 16.

Edwards had three points and four rebounds in 28 minutes in Oklahoma’s season-opening loss to Texas A&M-Commerce. Mississippi Valley State is scheduled to continue a demanding road stretch with games at Washington, Oregon and Oregon State before later trips to Arkansas, New Mexico, Michigan, North Texas, Connecticut, Mississippi State and Tulane. Oklahoma’s upcoming schedule includes home games against North Alabama, Fairleigh Dickinson, Campbell, Syracuse, Alabama State and Jackson State, along with games against Pittsburgh and Purdue in Fort Myers, Fla., Arizona State in Tulsa and Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected Oklahoma 78, Mississippi Valley State 64, and the ELO system gave Oklahoma a 100 percent probability to win. Oklahoma had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -41.5. The total score of 141 went over the over/under line of 152.5.