'We found a different way': OU defeats UCF 69-52 in Big 12 opener behind best defensive showing of season

Oklahoma (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) routed UCF (9-2, 0-1) 69-52 Saturday in Norman to win its first conference game of the season.

Sophomore guard Reyna Scott scored 11 points and senior forward Skylar Vann scored 10 to help OU snap a three-game losing streak. Oklahoma shot 41% from field goal range and had its best defensive performance of the season yet.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ win:

Sooners’ bench saves the day

OU fell behind early in the first quarter. UCF quickly gained an 11-0 lead three minutes after tip-off as OU started 0-5 shooting. Head coach Jennie Baranczyk called timeout at the 8:24 mark and made substitutions that instantly made a difference.

In the first half, 21 of OU’s 30 points came from its bench, with sophomore guard Reyna Scott putting up eight. Additionally, sophomore forward Kiersten Johnson blocked three shots and freshman center Landry Allen blocked one shot and had two steals off the bench. The revamped energy from the substitutions propelled the Sooners into a 11-0 run in the last four minutes of the first half to take a 30-26 lead into halftime. From that point on, the Sooners never looked back and remained ahead the rest of the game.

Over half OU’s 69 points came from its bench. Scott proved to have the best performance from off the bench, leading in scoring. Senior guard Aubrey Joens scored six off the bench, grabbed three rebounds and had three steals. Allen also had her best game of the season after scoring eight points off the bench and grabbing five rebounds.

“(Johnson and Allen) have no idea how good they are, especially playing together,” Baranczyk said postgame. “You could really see that. We started to really look at where we’ve been and we’ve got to put them in those positions to play together more. We’ll continue to do that. I think Beatrice Culliton did some really nice things too in establishing some paint points down low as well today. But those two, I thought, sparked us in some areas that we needed to be sparked.”

3-point shooting continues to struggle

The Sooners continue to struggle from 3-point range.

It took seventeen minutes of play before OU hit its first 3-pointer from senior guard Lexy Keys. In total, the Sooners went 3-for-22 from beyond the arc. UCF, despite being less reliant on long-range scoring, went 5-10 in 3-point attempts, a 36% difference in accuracy.

Poor outside shooting has been a trend for the Sooners over the last three games. OU has gone 13-for-71 from beyond the arc since its 62-52 loss to UNC on Dec. 19.

“You can see the right people are taking the right shots,” Baranczyk said. “She’s wide open, Payton (Verhulst), she’s a great three-point shooter. Lexy Keys is a great three-point shooter. Aubrey Joens is a great three-point shooter. Those are going to go in. Nevaeh (Tot) taking that first one of the game, that’s a great shot for us. We didn’t live and die today by the three. I think we’ve done that before. I think we found different ways (to score).”

Sooners turn in best defensive showing

The Knights arrived in Norman averaging 70 points and facing a team that allows an average of 71 points per game. This was not the case for today’s matchup. The Knights only managed to shoot 19-for-57, one of its lowest shooting averages of the season.

The Sooners collected 15 steals, beating its usual average of 10. OU also blocked six shots, and helped stifle the Knights’ ball control to generate 25 total turnovers. In comparison, the Sooners lost 11 turnovers, with only two of them being in the second half.

Johnson was atop the leaderboard with four blocked shots and Keys led in steals with seven. The bench alone accounted for five blocks and six steals.

“I think what today was a game you had to grind out, and we had to do it on the defensive end to be able to get some points for us,” Baranczyk said. “You can’t just rely on whether or not the ball goes in. We found a different way. We haven’t been able to do that this year.”

Next, Oklahoma goes on the road to face BYU (10-3) at 8 p.m. Monday on ESPN+.

“It’s been a December for us,” Baranczyk said. “It’s been really challenging. When your back is against the wall, you’ve got a couple different choices. I feel like we came back and really went at it and really focused on getting better and being a better team. I thought that showed today.”