No. 9 Oklahoma (12-2) opened up its SEC season with a 80-73 loss against No. 5 Texas (14-1) at the Lloyd Noble Center on Thursday.
Final: #5 Texas 80, #9 Oklahoma 73
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) January 3, 2025
Here are four takeaways from the loss:
Three-point shooting trouble
Throughout the season, Oklahoma has struggled from three-point range. In its last nonconference game against New Mexico State, OU made nine of 27 three-pointers, shooting 33.3%.
In the first half of the game against the Longhorns, OU only made two out of 10 three-pointers, ending the half with a 20% three-point shooting percentage. By the end of the game, the Sooners made two of 16 three-pointers, finishing with a 12.5% three-point percentage. This is the team’s lowest three-point shooting percentage of the season.
The only Sooners to sink a three-point shot were sophomore forward Sahara Williams and senior guard Payton Verhulst.
Verhulst and Scott led the way
Verhulst and redshirt senior center Liz Scott raked in the points for Oklahoma. The pair had a combined 37 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the matchup.
Verhulst led the way with 11 points in the first half, making one of the Sooners two three-pointers and three of 11 shots on the floor. Verhulst finished the night playing a total of 35 minutes with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Scott had nine points in the first half, making four out of five shots. She finished the game playing 20 minutes with 14 points and three rebounds.
“I thought Liz brought incredible energy,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “I think Liz did some really good things.”
Offense played tough
The Longhorns played a tough defense, recording 15 steals. This forced Oklahoma to adjust and play aggressively. While on defense, OU forced Texas to turn the ball over 18 times, scoring 15 fastbreak points as a result.
From the free-throw line, Oklahoma had success. The team had 26 free-throw attempts, the most this season. Out of the 26 attempts, the Sooners made 19 of them, shooting 73.1% from the line. This season, OU has averaged a free-throw shooting percentage of 68.1%
Against Texas, Oklahoma had a total of 44 rebounds, 21 offensive rebounds and 23 second chance points.
“I thought in the first quarter, especially, we were playing a lot of Oklahoma basketball,” Verhulst said. “We weren’t letting defense dictate what we were doing on offense, and I think that slowly changed throughout the game.”
Defensive Struggles
Throughout the season, OU has struggled defensively despite showing some improvement. The Longhorns had a shooting percentage of 47.5%, making 29 of 61 shots on the floor. Texas outshot Oklahoma from the three-point range, making four of six three pointers with a three-point shooting percentage of 66.7%. Longhorns freshman guard Jordan Lee led the Longhorns with 17 points, going four of five from the three-point range and making six of 11 baskets.
In an intense matchup, the Sooners also had 25 personal fouls. Junior center Raegan Beers and Verhulst were in danger of fouling out of the game with four personal fouls each. Beers, who has averaged 22 minutes per game, played a total of 17 minutes due to her being in foul trouble, starting in the third quarter.
“I felt like we fouled too much, and they scored on their offensive rebounds,” Baranczyk said. “I know we out rebounded them, but when you give up 17 (second chance) points in a game, can you say that you played great defense on second chances?”
Next, OU will hit the road and play No. 15 Tennessee (12-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville on ESPN.
This story was edited by Josh McDaniel.
