OU Basketball: Oklahoma Finishes Regular Season With Loss at Kansas
This time, the champs couldn’t quite finish the comeback.
No. 20-ranked Oklahoma, champions of the regular season in the Big 12 Conference, couldn’t make enough shots and couldn’t cut out the turnovers, and the Sooners finished the regular season with an 83-74 loss to Kansas at Phog Allen Field House in Lawrence.
OU fell to 21-8 overall and 15-3 in Big 12 play while Kansas improved to 17-11 and 10-7.
Payton Verhulst led Oklahoma with 22 points and six assists while Lexy Keys had 11 (all in the first half), Reyna Scott 10 and Skyler Vann 9.
But OU, which has made a habit out of second-half rallies, again fell victim to the turnover bug and poor shooting, committing 18 miscues and making just 33 percent of their field goals outside of a red-hot shooting performance in the second quarter. For the game, OU made just 5-of-22 from 3-point range.
OU couldn’t overcome a career-best 29 points from freshman S’Mya Nichols (on 7-of-11 shooting) and 26 from Holly Kersgieter (11-of-16). That duo also accounted for 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.
The Sooners had a rough first quarter, trailing 19-10 at the break after shooting just 36 percent and committing seven turnovers. Nichols had 10 points in the opening period on 3-for-3 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.
OU trailed by as many as 11 early, but then built an eight-point lead by making 10-of-11 shots in the second quarter (91 percent). That was highlighted by 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range — three from Keys and one from Verhulst.
That magic went away in the third quarter, however, as KU surged back to an eight-point lead thanks to another drain of OU turnovers — six in the period, bringing the Sooners’ running total to 19 — and a 4-of-15 shooting performance (26.7 percent).
OU trailed 59-53 to start the fourth quarter, and KU extended that to 70-60 on two layups and a free throw by Kersgieter and a 3-pointer by Wyvette Mayberry.
Once the Sooners’ deficit reached double digits, OU went more than 2 1/2 minutes without scoring as KU pulled away to a comfortable home victory.
Both teams will be in action next week at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. The Sooners are the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
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