No. 5 Oklahoma Must 'Grow Fast' to Get Back on Track at No. 6 Kentucky

The Sooners and the Wildcats are both looking to bounce back on Sunday after nights to forget last Thursday.

Oklahoma's Zya Vann pressures the ball against Ole Miss. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oklahoma’s next matchup, a top six battle with Kentucky, will be ripe with desperation.

The No. 5 Sooners saw their 13-game winning streak snapped by No. 18 Ole Miss at the Lloyd Noble Center on Thursday night.

While OU was getting battered and bruised by the Rebels, No. 6 Kentucky fell 64-51 to Alabama.

Come 3 p.m. on Sunday (SEC Network), both teams must adjust quickly to avoid a second-straight loss.

“Learn from it and grow fast,” OU center Raegan Beers said after Thursday’s defeat. “You’ve got two days, so obviously we’re going to take a lot from this game. Seniors need to step up and lead.”

How to Watch No. 5 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Kentucky

When: Sunday, Jan. 10
Where: Lexington, KY
Time: 3 p.m.
Channel: SEC Network

The first step for Oklahoma (14-2, 2-1 SEC) will be to avoid another slow start.

The Rebels raced out to a 15-3 lead on Thursday, as OU coach Jennie Baranczyk said her team was taken aback by the physicality of Ole Miss from the jump.

Beers’ second-quarter performance joined with a hot shooting streak from freshman star Aaliyah Chavez in the third quarter to get the Sooners back in the game, but falling behind double digits is unsustainable in SEC play.

“We need to start better,” Beers said. “… So that’s on the defensive end and obviously playing as a team because when we play team defense, we’re hard to go against.”

Oklahoma also needs more from redshirt senior Payton Verhulst, who started the game 0-for-12 from the field and finished 1-for-14.

Kentucky (15-2, 2-1) battled through its share of dry offensive spells against Alabama.

Center Clara Strack leads the Wildcats with 16.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, but she shot 1-for-13 from the floor against the Crimson Tide.

Kentucky also played without forward Teonni Key, the team’s third-leading scorer, something that proved insurmountable on Thursday.

The quick turnaround won’t offer enough time for a full reset, but the Sooners can waste no time getting back on track.

After battling Kentucky, Oklahoma will return home to host LSU and South Carolina in back-to-back games at the Lloyd Noble Center.

For the Sooners, everything against Kentucky will be about getting back to playing OU’s brand of basketball, which is built on setting teammates up for success instead of playing hero ball.

“We need to work on that,” Beers said. “Learn and grow from (the loss) and just get better.”