Oklahoma Muscles Its Way Into Sweet 16 With Win Over Michigan State

NORMAN — Raegan Beers stood in the backcourt, arms raised toward the rafters.

Payton Verhulst, who had just drained a 3-pointer to — finally — give Oklahoma some breathing room, looked first for a hand slap from Zya Vann for the assist, and then gave Vann an encouraging tap.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

The large crowd at Lloyd Noble Center finally erupted in celebration as a timeout was called midway through the fourth quarter of the No. 4-seeded Sooners' 77-71 win over Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

For the second consecutive season and the 12th time in program history, Oklahoma is headed to the Sweet Sixteen.

Barring what would be a stunning upset Monday by USC, the Sooners will take on No. 1 seed South Carolina on Friday in Sacramento.

OU knocked off the Gamecocks 94-82 in overtime on Jan. 22 in Norman.

Oklahoma trailed by five at halftime, as Michigan State matched the Sooners' frenetic pace.

But OU never trailed by more than five, staying in striking distance even through foul trouble and outside shooting woes.

The Sooners scored the first eight points of the third quarter to grab the lead, but it was never going to be easy against the Spartans.

Even after Verhulst's 3-pointer put the Sooners up 66-58, Michigan State kept fighting.

But Oklahoma got opportune shots, twice quickly extending the lead after the Spartans cut the deficit to four.

After Grace VanSlooten hit a jumper with just more than three minutes remaining, Sooners' freshman Aaliyah Chavez drained a 3-pointer, one of just four on the night for OU, to stretch the lead once again.

Here are three more takeaways from the Sooners' win:

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Sooners Struggle From Distance...

The Sooners haven't been lights out from beyond the arc this season. but they've generally been solid.

But after Chavez's 3-pointer in the opening moments of the second quarter, OU struggled for a long stretch from deep.

The Sooners missed 12 consecutive shots from beyond the arc before Verhulst's fourth-quarter 3-pointer off an assist from Vann to create some space.

OU finished 4-of-22 on 3-pointers.

... But Dominate the Boards

While shooting wasn't exactly at its best for the Sooners, they did control things at the basket, outrebounding the Spartans 45-36.

Beers had 14 rebounds — five on the offensive end — to help the Sooners come away with the victory.

OU had 17 offensive rebounds overall, leading to 10 second-chance points.

Both Teams Frustrated by Foul Calls

After an offensive foul call late in the third quarter, Verhulst fed the ball to Sahara Williams in the lane and Williams went hard to the basket.

After Williams was called for an offensive foul, her third foul of the game, Verhulst spread her arms wide toward an official standing near midcourt.

"Are you kidding," Verhulst said, before repeating the phrase even more incredulously.

In a game that was both fast-paced and physical, it was far from the only moment of irritation with officials' calls on both sides.

After a similar call against Beers after an offensive rebound minutes earlier, Jennie Baranczyk pleaded with officials that Beers had simply outmuscled Michigan State's Ines Sotelo under the basket.

Also in the third quarter, the Spartans' Emma Shumate pleaded her case demonstrably on a call after getting tangled with Verhulst.

There were 38 fouls called in the game.

The free-throw line also made a difference for the Sooners, who were 17-of-22 from the line while Michigan State was just 7-of-16.