Oklahoma basketball: Takeaways from a Big 12 Sooner stunner

Men’s Oklahoma basketball just may have played its way into the NCAA Tournament with a shocking 72-67 win over the Big 12 Tournament’s No. 2 seed, the Baylor Bears.

The Sooners (18-14) were nearly a nine-point underdog going into their third game this season against a Baylor team ranked No. 3 in the national. But they did not appear the least intimidated by the Big 12 regular-season co-champions, who had plenty to play for with a No. 1 seen in the NCAA Tournament on the line.

Who would have thought that with Oklahoma’s leading scorer, Tanner Groves, sitting on the bench for over 25 minutes in this game with foul trouble and contributing just five points, that the undermanned and depth-challenged Sooners would stand much of a chance against the reigning national champions and one of the best teams in the country?

The Sooners certainly weren’t thinking that way, and their head coach Porter Moser said after the game: We didn’t come here to win one game, he said, “We’re focused on winning this tournament. That’s what our mind and our focus is on.”

Oklahoma set the tone early, racing out to a quick 7-0 advantage before two minutes had elapsed in the game. The Sooners led for nearly 18 minutes of the first half, but a 12-2 run to close out the opening half gave Baylor a six-point, 33-27, advantage at intermission.

OU began the second half much like the first, scoring 8 or the first 10 points to tie the game at 35-35. Baylor regained the lead just two times after that, both times by a single point, as OU held the lead for over 12 minutes of the second half.

The Sooners’ biggest lead in the game was a nine-point advantage, 55-46, with 9:56 remaining in the second half.

“We’re focused on winning this tournament. That’s what our mind and focus in on.” — OU head coach Porter Moser

No. 7 Oklahoma moves on to the semifinal round of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday against the No. 3 seed Texas Tech. The two teams split the regular-season series with each team winning on its home court.

Tip-off for Friday’s game will follow the game between top-seeded Kansas and No. 5 TCU at approximately 8:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

This was a complete team win for the Sooners

Five Oklahoma players scored in double figures and the Sooner reserves contributed to the cause with 18 points. Jacob Groves, brother of OU’s leading scorer on the season, Tanner, stepped up in a big way in place of the injured Elijah Harkless, scoring a team-high 15 points in nearly 31 minutes of action. Umoja Gibson had 14 points, including a clutch three-point play with under a minute to go that gave the Sooners a six-point lead and essentially put the game away.

OU’s defensive play was as responsible for the victory as the Sooners’ efficiency and balance on the offensive end. Oklahoma shot a sizzling 63.0 percent in the second half (51.0 for the game), while hold a good Baylor shooting team to just 38.5 percent for the game, almost 10 points lower that the Bears’ season average.

Sooners able to overcome another game of sloppy ball handling

Oklahoma turned the ball over 16 times in Thursday night’s game with Baylor, and the Bears cashed in 19 points off of those turnovers. Eleven of those miscues occurred in the opening half.

In the two earlier games against Baylor this season, the Sooners averaged 22 turnovers. Baylor is one of the best teams in the Big 12 in forcing turnovers. Texas, Tech, OU’s opponent Friday night in the semifinal round, is even better in that department. If OU hopes to pull off a second-straight upset in this tournament, its ball security is going to have to be much better.

Is this enough to punch OU’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament?

ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has Oklahoma as one of the “last four out” in his current NCAA Tournament projections posted after Thursday night’s games. Some other experts believe the Sooners are in after the win over Baylor, but probably as a 12 seed. The surest way to ensure an at-large bid is to beat Texas Tech on Friday.

But even if OU loses to the Red Raiders in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Men’s Tournament, the Sooners should definitely be in the conversation when the NCAA Tournament selection committee goes through its final deliberations on Sunday.

When asked after the Baylor game about his team’s NCAA Tournament chances, Porter Moser had little hesitation:

"“I know our case for our team. We’re in the hardest conference in the country. We had the hardest schedule in the country…”"

The Sooners also have an NCAA NET ranking of 38 as of Friday morning, and 10 Quad 1-2 wins. And, oh yeah, five wins over teams ranked in the top 15 in the country, tied for the most of any Division I team.

The polls are now open…