Feb. 11—There were two significant scoring runs that doomed Oklahoma in its 78-55 loss to Kansas on Saturday.

The first one came at the end of the first half.

The Jayhawks opened the game making just two of its first 14 shots, and that helped the Sooners build an early lead. A Jalen Hill layup at the 5:43 mark put the Sooners up 20-19 and gave them a chance to take an advantage into halftime.

That’s when Kansas found a spark.

The Jayhawks proceeded to end the first half on a 16-2 run to take a 13-point lead into halftime. They were fueled by six Sooner turnovers during that stretch.

The Sooners came out hot in the second half, opening on a 14-7 run to cut the Jayhawks’ lead to six with 15 minutes to go. But the Jayhawks responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Sooners 27-7 over the next 11 minutes.

Those Jayhawk runs were fueled directly by OU turnovers.

The Sooners committed a season-high 24 turnovers, which turned into 27 Kansas points. To make matters worse, the Sooners recorded a season-low five assists.

13 of those turnovers came in the first half, which kept the Sooners from building on their early lead. All 10 Sooner players that logged minutes recorded at least one turnover, with freshmen Otega Oweh and Milos Uzan combining for nine.

Those turnovers erased any chances of OU ending its conference skid, which has now reached seven games.

“The storyline of the game is the decision making and the barrage of turnovers,” Moser said. “24 turnovers and five assists. Say no more. (You can’t) give the defending national champions that many turnovers.

“I really feel that our offense dictated our defense in that (first-half) run. I thought we regrouped at halftime, came out and tried to punch back. We made them call a timeout and cut that thing right back down. And then the turnovers started again.”

Even when the Sooners weren’t turning it over, the offense still struggled. Their 22 first-half points were the lowest they’ve scored in any half this season.

Outside of Jalen Hill, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, the Sooners never found a consistent source of offense.

Grant Sherfield, who’s 25 points during the teams’ first meeting last month at Kansas helped the Sooners nearly upset the Jayhawks, struggled mightily this time around. He finished with just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting with only two assists.

Eventually the Jayhawks found their footing offensively, shooting 55 percent for the game. The Sooners, however, shot just 36 percent (20-of-56) from the field and 24 percent (4-of-17) from the 3-point line.

“I just think we’re trying to force things,” Hill said. “We’re getting to the paint and the play is not there and we’re trying to force something and making a bad play and then we’re just not getting back on defense after that. And, at the end of the day, we just got to take care of the ball and find ways to make plays for one another.”

Notes —Oweh gets his second start: The freshman guard made a big impact in his first collegiate start on Wednesday against Baylor, and Moser kept him in the starting lineup against the Jayhawks.

This time, he struggled a bit. Oweh finished with 11 points but shot just 3-of-11 from the field, adding two steals and four turnovers in 23 minutes.

“I know we’re pouring into some young guys,” Moser said. “You’re going to live with some young mistakes, especially against a team like that that makes you pay.”

—Early minutes again for Bamisile: After falling out of the rotation last month, the junior forward again saw early playing time against the Jayhawks.

But he never found his footing, missing all four of his shot attempts and committing three turnovers in 17 minutes.

—Conference skid continues: The Sooners fall to 12-13 on the season and 2-10 in conference play.

It’s not going to get any easier. Their next two games are home against No. 12 Kansas State on Tuesday and at No. 5 Texas next Saturday.

If the Sooners have any hope of making the NCAA Tournament, those are games they have to win.