Jan. 10—With just over five minutes to go, Oklahoma led No. 2 Kansas 71-61 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Only a few minutes separated the Sooners from securing a statement victory over a top-ranked team and their first win in Lawrence, Kansas since 1993.

But the story of the Sooners’ season so far has been their struggle to execute in late-game situations. That again came back to hurt them on Tuesday night.

After the Sooners took a 10-point lead, the Jayhawks proceeded to end the game on an 18-4 run, handing the Sooners a tough 79-75 loss.

The loss marks the Sooners’ third in four games to open conference play.

Here’s four takeaways from the Sooners’ loss to the Jayhawks: 1. Free throws tell the story The Jayhawks’ advantage at the charity stripe ended up playing a crucial role. They took 16 more free throws than the Sooners, making 31-of-39. 31 of those attempts came in the second half.

The Sooners made 19-of-23 attempts.

That advantage helped Kansas stay in the game, and kept the Sooners from building a bigger lead. Starting from the 17:35 mark to the 6:29 mark of the second half, all of Kansas’ 18 points came at the foul line.

The Jayhawks finished the game shooting 22-of-59 (37 percent) from the floor, with only nine of their made baskets coming in the second half.

The Sooners shot 27-of-57 (47 percent).

2. Grant Sherfield bounces back, but struggles late In the Sooners’ two games prior to Tuesday, Sherfield scored just 15 points on 5-of-24 shooting.

But he found his rhythm in Lawrence, particularly in the second half.

Sherfield finished with a game-high 25 points while shooting an efficient 9-of-15 from the field. 15 of those points came after halftime.

It was mostly a much-needed bounce back game for him. But he made a rare mistake late in the game.

With 23 seconds remaining, and the Sooners trailing by two, Sherfield took a highlycontested 3-pointer with 11 seconds left on the shot clock that air-balled. The Jayhawks regained possession and made two free throws to push their lead to four, ultimately sealing the win.

3. Sam Godwin gives Sooners an early lift The Sooners may not have built a late lead at all without a big performance from Godwin in the first half.

Godwin scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening 20 minutes and recorded eight of the Sooners’ first 12 points. He also added seven rebounds in 15 minutes.

But his playing time was limited in the second half due to foul trouble. Godwin committed four fouls, with two of them coming in his four second-half minutes.

He wasn’t the only one that struggled with foul trouble. Tanner Groves (10 points, 10 rebounds) finished with four fouls for the fourth consecutive game, while freshman guard Milos Uzan (11 points, five rebounds) fouled out.

The Sooners committed 22 fouls compared to the Jayhawks’ 17.

4. Sooners struggle to slow down KJ Adams Jr.

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson came into Tuesday night averaging a team-high 20 points per game.

But he’s not the one that really hurt the Sooners. The Sooners limited Wilson to 3-of-12 shooting from the floor, though he finished with 17 points by making 10-of-12 free throw attempts.

It was Adams that the Sooners struggled to contain. Adams finished with a team-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, adding six rebounds and two blocks.

Up next: The Sooners (106, 1-3 Big 12) return home for a big game against West Virginia at 11 a.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.