OU Basketball: Three Takeaways From No. 13 Oklahoma's Loss to No. 12 Kentucky

The Wildcats caught fire from deep to sink the Sooners in Norman on Sunday.

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Jennie Baranczyk / Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Days after battling No. 7 LSU down to the wire, Oklahoma found itself in the midst of another SEC fight. 

The No. 13-ranked Sooners hosted No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday, which marked OU’s fifth ranked matchup already in conference play. 

Kentucky sprinted out to a 15-point first quarter lead thanks to a barrage of 3’s, but four quick points from Skylar Vann cut the Wildcats’ advantage back down to one early in the third quarter and it looked as though the Sooners would stage another second half comeback just as they did against LSU. 

But the visitors weren’t done dealing damage from deep. 

Kentucky responded with a 16-0 run of its own, creating a cushion the Sooners couldn’t overcome in the final quarter. 

Oklahoma fell 95-86 at the Lloyd Noble Center, a defeat which dropped the Sooners to 16-7 on the year and to 4-5 in SEC action. 

The Wildcats moved to 19-2 this year and 8-1 in league play. 

Here are Sooners on SI’s three takeaways from the defeat. 

Final Box Score / OU Stats

Fire and Ice

As Jennie Baranczyk’s team watched Kentucky pour it on from deep, the Sooners couldn’t pry the lid off the bucket. 

OU hit just 6-of-29 attempts from deep, which started to wear on the offense late in the third quarter. 

As Kentucky extended the lead back out, gone was the free-flowing offense Baranczyk loves her team to play. 

Payton Verhulst continued to fire away, but the rest of the team appeared hesitant, and Oklahoma had to work deep into the shot clock to even get field goal attempts up — a bad recipe when trying to dig out of a sizable hole. 

Sahara Williams, who led Oklahoma with 27 points on 8-of-18 shooting, and free throws kept the Sooners in the game in the first half. Eventually, the disparity from beyond the arc was too much to overcome. 

In comparison, Kentucky guard Georgia Amoore hit seven triples all by herself as she finished with 43 points on 15-of-22 shooting. Wildcats center Clara Strack was hot from deep too, as she hit three 3-pointers and finished with 19 points and six rebounds. 

Many of those looks came directly off OU’s mistakes too, as Kentucky outscored the Sooners 25-5 off turnovers even though the Wildcats only won the turnover battle 18-14.

Vann Flashes Late

Vann finished with 11 points, and nine of those came after halftime. 

She shot 4-of-9 from the field and added four rebounds and four assists for a nice all-around night.

Her offensive production has been dealt the biggest blow in adding Raegan Beers, and the Sooners need her to return to form to continue to balance out the offense.

She’s played her best defense of her career as Baranczyk often points out, but Vann has to come alive in OU’s final seven regular season contests plus SEC Tournament play for the Sooners to feel good about breaking through the second round and into the Sweet 16 — something that has eluded Baranczyk’s teams so far. 

Another Resume Miss 

Oklahoma’s SEC scheduled was front loaded with matchups against Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, LSU and Kentucky already in the rear view, but the Sooners went 1-4 against the top the league. 

The victory in Knoxville will hold up as the Sooners’ best of the season so far, but OU’s NCAA Tournament resume has taken some hits as Oklahoma tries to cling onto a 4-line and earn the privilege of hosting the first two rounds in March. 

Wins over Louisville and Michigan, which were ranked victories at the time, have lost a little shine with both teams falling out of the AP Top 25. 

Duke, who beat the Sooners in overtime in November, is still in the top 10, but close losses to top 15 teams only go so far — especially when they aren’t balanced out by wins in the other column. 

Ole Miss received votes in the most recent AP Poll, but contests against No. 23 Vanderbilt and No. 22 Alabama are the last real resume builders left for the Sooners before the SEC Tournament. 

Oklahoma isn’t worried about missing The Dance, but the Sooners could have to head on the road as a 5-seed for the third straight year if they don’t go on a run to close the regular season. 

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