Oklahoma basketball: Sooners stumble down the stretch, lose by 6 at Baylor

Oklahoma basketball had plenty of opportunities down the stretch at Baylor on Monday night, but couldn’t close the deal and ended up falling 59-53 for the Sooners fifth consecutive loss.

Baylor’s Devonte Bandoo came off the bench and scored a game-high 19 points, including sinking five of seven from behind the three-point arc. The Bears made 10 of 22 three-point shots and outscored Oklahoma from long range 30-9. OU made just 3 of 16 three balls, and that was the big difference in the game.

Since opening the season winning 11 of its first 12 games, the Sooners have won just four times and lost nine games since then. They are now 3-9 in Big 12 play and, barring a major turnaround, have most likely played themselves out of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Oklahoma jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first three and a half minutes and led for much of the first half before Baylor drew even 31-31 at the half. The Bears went on a 13-2 run early in the second half and stretched their lead to 11 points, at 48-37, midway through the second half.

The Sooners responded with a 14-2 run of their own, and actually took the lead 51-50 with five minutes remaining in the game. The Bears took control of the game from their, finishing out the game on a 9-2 run.

Both teams shot 38.9 percent from the field for the game (21 of 54) and the rebounds were virtually even (34 for Baylor, 33 for OU). The Sooners missed 7 of 15 free throws and were outscored by the Baylor reserves 24-7.

Kristian Doolittle led the Sooners in scoring with 14 points, with Christian James and Brady Manek contributing 11 apiece. Besides Bandoo’s 19 points, only one other Baylor player scored in double figures (Jared Butler with 11).

Baylor is now 16-8 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12. The Sooners played much better than they did in the first meeting between the two teams, a 30-point blowout in Norman, but their shooting still is not consistent enough and they are allowing too many second-chance scoring opportunities during their current losing streak.

Oklahoma allowed 13 second-chance points to Baylor on Monday night. That plus the missed Sooner free throws proved to be the difference in the game.

OU’s 53 points was its second lowest output of the season (Baylor held the Sooners to just 44 points in the first meeting). The Sooners have scored fewer than 60 points five times this season and three times in the last five games.

The Sooners next head to TCU on Saturday, an 82-77 loser to Kansas in overtime on Monday night. One of Oklahoma’s three Big 12 wins this season was over TCU, 76-74 in Norman.