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Oklahoma Rises One Spot in AP Top 25 Heading Into Postseason Play

Despite going 1-1 this week, the Sooners climbed in the AP Poll after a thrilling victory over one of the nation's top teams.
Randall Sweet|
Oklahoma Rises One Spot in AP Top 25 Heading Into Postseason Play
Oklahoma Rises One Spot in AP Top 25 Heading Into Postseason Play

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Oklahoma Sooners

Despite a road loss to unranked Kansas on Saturday, the Sooners climbed one spot in this week's AP Top 25.

Heading into the Big 12 Conference Tournament in Kansas City, Oklahoma sits at No. 19 in this week's poll.

OU's jump was fueled by an exhilarating one-point victory over then-No. 3 Texas in which senior guard Lexy Keys connect on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with less than five seconds left. 

Despite trailing for most of the contest, Oklahoma's perimeter shooting kept them within striking distance and a solid defensive effort in the second half allowed Jennie Baranczyk's team to overtake the Longhorns late. 

With the win, the Sooners captured their second consecutive Big 12 regular season title. The victory also gave OU the season sweep of a very impressive Texas team that has enough talent to potentially make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. 

Junior guard Payton Verhulst led the way for Oklahoma against the Longhorns, tallying 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and one steal.

After an emotional victory over a rival on Wednesday night, the Sooners traveled to Lawrence on Saturday, but were unable to escape with a victory as Verhulst scored 22.

Still, OU is the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, draws a first-round bye and will face either Oklahoma State or TCU in its first game from Kansas City on March 9. 

Texas fell to No. 6 in the latest AP Poll while Kansas State checks in at No. 16 and Baylor lands at No. 17. 

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall is a recruiting analyst and staff writer at AllSooners focusing primarily on OU Football and the recruiting trail. Working as a journalist, Randall has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and high school sports across the state. A 2022 University of Oklahoma graduate, Randall hails from Lubbock, TX. While in college, Sweet wrote for the OU Daily in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Sweet served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at AllSooners. The West Texas native has bylines in the Norman Transcript and is a Staff Writer for Inside the Thunder. Randall holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. 

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