Oklahoma basketball: Sooners looking to cool Baylor hot hand

For the second time in two days, Oklahoma basketball faces an opponent at home coached by brothers Drew.

After issuing a 31-point demolition of Bryce Drew’s Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday as part of the Big 12/SEC Basketball Challenge, the Sooners get a shot at older brother Scott and the Baylor Bears at Lloyd Nobel Center on Monday.

Baylor comes to Norman for an ESPN “Big Monday” showdown with the Sooners riding a four-game winning streak. The Bears (13-6, 4-2), with wins over Oklahoma State. Texas Tech, West Virginia and Alabama in its last four outings, are looking for a second consecutive Big 12 win away from home. They defeated West Virginia 85-73 a week ago in Morgantown, two days after the Mountaineers upset Kansas on the same floor.

Oklahoma (15-5, 3-4) has a two-game winning streak of its own going, rebounding from back-to-back losses against Kansas State and Texas with a pair of wins over Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt this past week.

The loss to K-State on Jan. 16 was OU’s first home loss of the season after six consecutive wins at the LNC. Home court has proved to be a huge advantage against Baylor. The Sooners are 23-5 all-time against Baylor in Norman and are 45-15 in the overall series. In the Lon Kruger era, however, the series is much tighter, with Oklahoma owning an 8-7 edge.

The Sooners have found new life to its offensive production over the last two games. Since falling behind by 19 points midway through the first half at Oklahoma State, OU has outscored its opponents 147-88 and shot 57.5 percent from the field over its last three .

Since Kruger inserted senior Rashard Odomes and freshman Jamal Bieniemy into the starting lineup three games ago, Oklahoma has gone 2-1, but more importantly, the Sooners have done a much better job protecting the ball. With Bieniemy operating at point guard, OU has committed five fewer turnovers per game and is forcing two more steals per contest.

Odomes is averaging 13.3 points per game in his last four games, and is shooting at an impressive .750 clip from the field (24 of 32). Bieniemy has averaged over 9.0 points per game in his starts the past three games. In addition, the freshman has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.63 and has committed just one turnover in his past four games.

Here are some other compelling statistics to keep in mind for Monday night’s primetime game against Baylor:

• Oklahoma is 7-0 when holding an opponent under 70 points and 4-0 when the opponent scores fewer than 60 points.
• OU is 14-1 when it scores at least 30 points in the first half.
• The Sooners are holding their opponents to 38.8 percent shooting. That is the second lowest field-goal percentage defense in the Big 12 and ranks 11th nationally.
• OU ranks eighth in the nation in defensive rebounding, averaging 30.3 defensive boards a game. The Sooners are 12-1 when they outrebound their opponent.
• Senior Christian James leads the Sooners with a 16.8 scoring average, fourth best in the Big 12.
• The Sooners have won 22 of their last 25 games at the Lloyd Noble Center.