OU Basketball: Oklahoma Falls to Duke in OT; Peyton Verhulst Logs Triple-Double, Buzzer-Beater

The Sooners suffered their first loss as they jumped to a quick lead early, then fell behind big but rallied as Verhulst hit a buzzer-beater to send it overtime.

Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oklahoma’s perfect record is no more.

The No. 8-ranked Sooners suffered their first loss of the season and fell to No. 13 Duke — their first matchup in a decade — 109-99 on Wednesday in the championship game of the Ball Dawgs Classic at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, NV.

Peyton Verhulst led the Sooners with 29 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, and posted a triple-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. 

But even Verhulst’s excellence wasn’t enough to overcome a career-high 35 points by Riegan Richardson, and Verhulst’s own buzzer-beater was negated by a 65-foot heave by Duke’s Ashlon Jackson to beat the third-quarter buzzer.

OU fell to 6-1, while Duke improved to 7-1.

The Sooners weren’t challenged much during their 6-0 start, with an average margin of victory of more than 37 points per game. That propelled OU to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 — the program’s best ranking since 2009 — but it didn’t do much to prepare them for Duke’s tempo, size and athleticism — and unmistakable good fortune.

OU erased a 15-point lead and engaged Duke in a back-and-forth fourth quarter that didn’t end until Verhulst’s buzzer-beater sent it to overtime.

Beers’ free throw to start OT gave the Sooners their first lead since the first quarter at 95-94, but she was called for an offensive foul on OU’s next possesion.

OU stats

Duke immediately took the lead back on Richardson’s jump shot, and after Nevaeh Tot’s missed 3, Richardson’s pull-up jumper rebuilt the Blue Devils’ lead to 95-98.

A turnover by Tot and a foul by Sahara Williams put Richardson at the free throw line to make it 99-95, but Verhulst wasn't done.

She hit a straightaway 3 with 2:52 to play to cut it to 99-98.

But Oklahoma's defense couldn't hold up as Delaney Thomas scored in the paint for a 101-98 lead.

Zya Vann made one free throw make it 101-99, but Duke got a layup from Jadyn Donovan for a 103-99 lead, then forced an OU turnover on the inbouds pass. Another bucket by Richardson and an offensive foul by Beers essentially ended it.

Richardson’s 3 with 45 seconds to play gave Duke a 108-99 lead.

Playing just outside of Las Vegas, the Sooners left plenty of money on the table as they made just 15-of-23 free throws and committed a season-high 18 turnovers.

Oklahoma surged to a quick 14-9 lead, but then immediately gave up an 8-0 run to the Blue Devils, who finished the first quarter on a 18-6 run to lead 27-20.  The Sooners shot 53 percent from the floor in the first quarter (9-of-17), but Duke shot 67 percent (10-of-15).

Jordan Wood’s 3-pointer less than a minute into the second quarter pushed the Blue Devils’ lead to 30-20, and Delaney Thomas cashed in OU’s sixth turnover for a fast-break layup on the other end to make it 32-20. Richardson’s transition basket made it 34-20 after another turnover, extending Duke’s run to 11 unanswered points.

After Verhulst scooped in a tough shot in the paint, Jackson dropped in a 3-pointer to build the lead to 15 points at 37-22.

Verhulst added a quick 3, but Richardson answered with a 3 of her own to make it 40-27, and Wood’s second 3 pushed Duke to a 43-29 lead midway through the second quarter.

The Blue Devils swelled that lead back to 15, 46-31, with 1:49 before halftime on a bucket by Taina Mair, and that’s when Sooners  endured their scariest moment of the game. 

Beers collided with Toby Fournier on the other end and grabbed her knee. She required help from the OU medical team to get to the bench, where she sat on a stationary bike and appeared to test her knee. The foul on Fournier was upgraded to a flagrant, and Verhulst came in to shoot her free throws. Beers eventually returned to the game and finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting.

Verhulst added a jump shot to help Oklahoma finish the half on a 4-0 run, closing the halftime deficit to 46-35.

Verhulst stayed hot and kept the Sooners in the game early in the third quarter with a pair of buckets that cut Duke’s lead to 50-41 with 7:29 on the clock. A 3 by Skylar Vann, a putback by Sahara Williams and a layup by Liz Scott cut it to 55-48.

Another fast break layup by Williams made it 57-50, and three free throws by Lexy Keys after a Duke foul and a technical reduced the lead to to 57-54 with 4 1/2 minutes to play.

Beers’ three-point play at the 2:38 mark got Oklahoma back within three at 60-57, and a free throw from Verhulst made it 60-58. But the Sooners couldn’t add to their total with four empty possessions to end the third.

That’s when Duke’s Ashlon Jackson put in a 65-foot miracle off the glass to beat the buzzer and push the Blue Devils’ lead to 7 at 65-58. Jackson finished with 18 points.

Jackson opened the fourth quarter with a layup to put the Blue Devils up nine.

Verhulst hit another jumper to make it 67-62, and Liz Scott’s putback of a missed free throw made it 67-65.

Skylar Vann gave the Sooners another shot in the arm when she made a circus catch of a pass from Nevaeh Tot under the basket and gathered herself for an acrobatic layup and free throw that cut Duke’s lead to 71-68.

OU had a chacne to tie it, but Verhulst and Tot each missed 3-pointers.

Beers cut it to 71-70 with a layup, and after Janessa Cotton put in just her second bucket of the season, Verhulst drained a 3-pointer with 4:49 left, tying it at 73-73.

Richardson's 3 put Duke back on top, and Beers missed inside on the next possession with four minutes left. Jackson then got wide open for a 3 to give the Blue Devils a 79-73 lead.

Beers scored inside to cut it four with 3:39 to play, and her three-point play with 2:45 to go made it 79-78.

After Mair scored for Duke, Skylar Vann hit a jumper to make it 81-80, and Richardson’s 3 pushed it back to a four-point lead at 84-80 with 1:40 to go.

Tot’s missed 3 led to a free throw from Jadyn Donovan for an 85-80 lead, and Vann missed a 3 on the other end, but Beers grabbed the rebound and put it back in with 1:12 left.

Richardson’s driving layup extended it to 87-82, but Keys cut it to 87-84 with 33 seconds to play. Vanessa Dejesus made it 89-84 with 29 seconds to go.

Beers scored again down low to make it 89-86, forcing Duke into a timeout with 27 seconds showing. 

Mair broke free for a layup that gave Duke a 91-86 lead with 24 seconds to play, and Beers took an inbounds lob from Verhulst and scored to cut it to 91-88 with 22 seconds left.

After two Duke freee throws by Jackson, Keys buried a 3-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock to reduce the Blue Devils’ lead to 93-91.

Mair went to the free throw line with 6.8 seconds to play, made one free throw and missed the second for a 94-91 lead as OU called its final timeout with 5.7 seconds left to set up its final possession down three points.

OU’s inbounds pass was deflected with 2 seconds left, and Verhulst drained the buzzer-beater to lock it up and 94 and send the game to overtime.