Oklahoma (6-4) fell to No. 24 North Carolina (8-4) 61-52 Tuesday night at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Junior guard Payton Verhulst scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds during the loss in which OU also shot a season-low 26% from the field.
Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:
Final | #24 UNC 61, OU 52
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) December 20, 2023
Season lows in scoring
The Sooners opened with an immediate 3-pointer from senior guard Lexy Keys and grabbed an early 12-4 lead with six minutes remaining in the first quarter. OU then went cold and shot 1 of 12 from deep before halftime, its worst stretch of the season so.
Oklahoma did not see any improvements beyond the arc in the second half. It finished a season-worst 1 for 26 from 3-point range.
The Sooners entered averaging 85 points per game and scored their lowest total of the season.
“We’ve got to grow up in a lot of areas,” coach Jennie Baranczyk commented in a postgame radio interview. “When you face some adversity, you still gotta keep going and you still gotta believe and you still gotta take the score down and some things. We were in it pretty much the whole time and we had opportunity, then we just kind of hold our breath and put so much on one shot. Then it doesn’t go in and it multiplies. That’s a sign that we just got to be able to play.
Second-half crash
OU’s defense held strong despite an abysmal offensive showing. Particularly in their ability to disrupt transitions and generate turnovers.
The Tar Heels, who average 12 turnovers per game, committed 13 in the first half. The Sooners were able to score off each one.
North Carolina finished with 23 turnovers, more than double their average and 11 more than OU’s total. Senior forward Skylar Vann and senior guard Aubrey Joens each finished with two steals.
“I think our first quarter was really good,” Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk said in a postgame radio interview. “I think we started settling a little too much in the second quarter. We needed to go back to the paint like we did in the first quarter and our ball movement was really good … I was proud of the way that we rebounded in the first half. Obviously not the second. We’re just putting teams on the foul line too much and we’ve got to knock down free throws ourselves. This one is a tough one. It’s a really, really tough one because we had a lot of opportunities.”
Everything went south for OU after halftime, including its defensive performance. North Carolina went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter to increase its lead by 12 points. The Sooners outscored the Tar Heels 12-9 in the fourth quarter, but it was too late for a comeback.
Defensively, the Tar Heels locked down the Sooners in the second half, allowing 16 points in the third and fourth quarter, physically bullying the Sooners and making them rely on outside shooting. The Tar Heels are the first opponent to hold the Sooners to fewer than 60 points this season.
Verhulst shines through chaos
Verhulst scored double-digit points for the first time since her injury against Tennessee on Nov. 25.
Following Verhulst, Vann posted her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Separate and finish. pic.twitter.com/DFHkTikdwP
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_WBBall) December 20, 2023
“We need everybody and I think that’s what we’re learning,” Baranczyk said.. “We lacked that today. I thought we were competitive and I thought we got a little too worried about the wrong things. Those are some things that we got to be able to step up and it didn’t help Payton (Verhulst) in foul trouble, especially in that first half. I think she just makes such a defense for us. I don’t know the answer, but I know that it will be something.”
Next, Oklahoma will return home for its last nonconference matchup of the season against Southern (1-8) at 12 p.m. Dec. 22 on ESPN+.