OU Basketball: Oklahoma Upset by Iowa State in Big 12 Semifinals
In the Big 12 Tournament semifinal game on Monday, No. 1-seed Oklahoma fell to No. 4-seed Iowa State 85-68.
After winning the Big 12 regular season title for the second consecutive season, OU fell short of conference championship game again in 2023. Junior guard Payton Verhulst led the way for the Sooners with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal.
Iowa State struck first, but freshman forward Sahara Williams answered with an offensive rebound and putback to tie the game in the opening minutes. Senior guard Nevaeh Tot knocked down a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put OU ahead 5-2.
A few moments later, the Cyclones scored in the paint on two consecutive possessions to retake the lead. OU's cold steak continued as Jennie Baranczyk's team missed nine field goals in a row while Iowa State built an 11-5 advantage midway through the opening frame.
Kelsey Joens, the younger sister of Oklahoma guard Aubrey Joens, knocked down a triple followed by another 3-pointer from the Cyclones to extend Iowa State's run to 15-0.
The Sooners started 3-of-17 from the field, trailing 18-7 with a minute and a half left in the first quarter.
Following two free throws from Co-Big 12 Player of the Year Skylar Vann and a basket from sophomore center Beatrice Culliton, OU went into the second quarter trailing 18-11.
The Sooners began to heat up in the next period, as Verhulst knocked down a triple after scoring on the previous possession to cut the Cyclones' lead to three.
Iowa State built its lead back to eight, but a mid-range jumper from Tot and Vann's first field goal of the afternoon brought the score to 26-22 in favor of ISU.
A 3-pointer from Cyclones' senior Emily Ryan coming out of a timeout followed by an interior basket gave Iowa State a 31-22 lead with a little over two minutes left in the first half.
ISU continued its run in the final two minutes of the second quarter, knocking down a triple with three seconds left to go ahead 38-24 at the break. The Sooners' shot 10-of-34 from the field and 2-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first half, failing to put any points on the scoreboard in the two minutes and 19 seconds of the second quarter.
Coming out of the halftime, Iowa State embarked on an 11-2 run, taking a 49-26 lead midway through the third quarter. The 23 point margin was the largest deficit Oklahoma has faced all season.
Verhulst started to heat up, knocking down a pair of triples followed by a Vann 3-pointer, but the Sooners still couldn't slow down Iowa State, trailing by 19 points heading into the final frame.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Cyclones knocked down their 10th shot from beyond the arc to extend ISU's lead to 69-43. Iowa State continued their impressive shooting performance with two more triples, holding a 77-51 davtange with five minutes left in the game.
In the end, the Cyclones topped OU 85-68, knocking down 52.2% of their shots from beyond the arc. The Sooners, who average 77 points per game, shot just 36.1% from the field in the loss.
Iowa State will take on the winner of Texas and Kansas State in the Big 12 title game while Oklahoma awaits its NCAA Tournament seeding.
- Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news!
- Want even more Sooners news? Check out the SI.com OU team page here!
- Listen and subscribe to the AllSooners Podcast!
- Watch more Sooners videos and subscribe on YouTube!
- Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!