Beers scores 20 as No. 10 Oklahoma beats No. 12 Kentucky to reach SEC semifinals

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Payton Verhulst added 16 points and No. 10 Oklahoma battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 12 Kentucky 69-65 on Friday and advance to the SEC Tournament semifinals.

Sahara Williams chipped in with 13 points for Oklahoma, which has won nine straight.

The Sooners (25-6) will face two-time defending Southeastern Conference champion and fifth-ranked South Carolina, an 84-63 winner over Vanderbilt, on Saturday.

Georgia Amoore scored 29 points and Clara Strack added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Kentucky (22-7).

The teams finished tied for fourth in the SEC, but the Wildcats beat the Sooners 95-86 to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker and a double bye in the tournament. In that game Amoore had a career-high 43 points on seven 3-pointers, so finding a way to stop Kentucky’s point guard was a point of emphasis for Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk.

Amoore was 12 of 27 from the field.

Neither team led by more than five in the first half, but Amoore’s first 3-pointer of the game midway through the third quarter gave Kentucky a 10-point lead. Verhulst’s back-to-back 3s from the top of the key allowed the Sooners to take a 50-49 lead into the fourth quarter.

Takeaways

Oklahoma: Despite playing their second game in two days, the Sooners looked stronger down the stretch than the more well-rested Wildcats.

Kentucky: Finished 4 of 23 from 3-point range. Amoore was just 3 of 8, with two of those coming in the final minute.

Key moment

Skylar Vann’s cutting layup gave Oklahoma a 64-59 lead with 1:32 left.

Key stat

The Sooners won despite shooting 31% from the field.

Up next

While Oklahoma moves on to play its third game in three days, Kentucky will await its NCAA Tournament seed.

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