If you had told Oklahoma basketball coach Lon Kruger before the Baylor game that his team would be within one score of No. 1 Baylor on its home court with under 30 seconds to go, he would have taken it in a heartbeat.
That’s how close the Sooners came on national television on Monday of spoiling Baylor’s second-ever top ranking on the very day in which it rose to the country’s top rung in college basketball. The Bears prevailed 61-57, but it was far closer than the experts and, quite frankly, the Baylor players expected. Baylor was an 11-point favorite entering the contest.
Down 57-49 with 1:40 remaining in regulation, a two-point field goal by Krisitian Doolittle and back-to-back three-pointers by Austin Reaves and Brady Manek brought the Sooners within two at 59-57.
A steal by Doolittle with 13 seconds to go was followed by a contested three-point shot from the left corner by Reaves that missed the mark and allowed the Baylor faithful to exhale a sigh of relief.
The widely publicized Baylor defense and a 10-board rebounding advantage may have been the ultimate difference in the game, but much could also be made of the Oklahoma defensive effort, holding the country’s top-ranked team to just 34.9-percent shooting and 11 points under its scoring average.
Here are a few more notable numbers that help tell the story of the game:
4 of 8 — Brady Manek made four of eight three-point field-goal attempts against Baylor. Two days before he made five of seven three-balls in OU’s 20-point win over TCU.
9 — The Oklahoma defense forced nine steals and blocked six shots in the game.
10-1 — Oklahoma’s record this season when the Sooners shoot a higher percentage than their opponent. OU shot 35.0 percent against Baylor, compared with the Bears’ 34.9 percent.
14-13 — Oklahoma’s only lead in the game was at the 11:47 mark in the first half, 14-13, on a layup by Kur Kuath.
14 — Baylor’s 18 offensive rebounds led to 14 points.
15 — Brady Manek scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.
18 — Baylor outrebounded the Sooners 46-36, and 18 of those were on the offensive glass.
19 — Combined turnovers in the game, 11 of which were committed by Oklahoma.
21 — Brady Manek and Kristian Doolittle combined for 21 of OU’s 36 rebounds.
24 — The Sooners scored 24 points in the first half at Baylor. That tied their low of the season. They scored 24 in a loss to Stanford and 25 in a conference loss at Iowa State.