Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma basketball: What fans need to know about Sooners vs. Baylor

By Chip Rouse

Jan 22, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Jalen Hill (1), Baylor Bears forward Flo Thamba (0) and guard Kendall Brown (2) reach for a loose ball during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Baylor won 65-51. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 22, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners forward Jalen Hill (1), Baylor Bears forward Flo Thamba (0) and guard Kendall Brown (2) reach for a loose ball during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center. Baylor won 65-51. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Oklahoma basketball men hope to bounce back from Wednesday’s loss to Oklahoma State when they host No. 21 Baylor at Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday.

The second-half Sooner performance in Stillwater was the worst by Porter Moser’s team this season. The OU defense wasn’t able to string together enough stops to slow down Oklahoma State on the offensive end, and when the Sooners were able to get a stop, they had trouble converting on offense to close the gap, which grew to a season-high 18 points with under a minute remaining in the game.

The 72-56 loss to the Cowboys earlier this week was the worst losing margin of the season for the Sooners, and they will face another tough assignment on Saturday when Baylor, the favorite to win the conference in the Big 12 Preseason Poll, comes to town.

Moser believes his team has the right makeup to bounce back from the devastating collapse against Oklahoma State:

"“We’ve had losses and bounced back,” Moser said following the game in Stillwater. “This team has high character…You can’t lose confidence. You’ve got to learn, get better and put it in the bank and come back and fight.”"

Baylor (13-5, 3-3) began the Big 12 portion of its schedule with three consecutive losses but since has rebounded to win its last three conference games, including an 81-74 win at Texas Tech in its last outing.

The Sooners lead the all-time series with Baylor 46-23 and are 23-9 against the Bears in games played in Norman. More recently, however, Baylor has owned OU, winning eight straight regular-season meetings and 10 of the last 12. The Bears have been victories in four of their last four visits to the Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma did win its most recent game against Baylor, defeating the Bears 72-67 in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals last March.

What fans need to know about the Oklahoma-Baylor game on Saturday

  • The game will tip off at 3 p.m. CT and be televised on ESPN2. Mark Neely will do the TV play-by-play with Jay Williams providing commentary.
  • The OU men’s game is part of a Saturday doubleheader. The men will be followed by the 15th-ranked Sooner women, who will host Oklahoma State in the night half of the doubleheader.
  • Oklahoma leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage (48.9), and the Sooners will need every bit of that to beat a Baylor group that ranks second in the Big 12 and 26th nationally, averaging 80.6 points a game.
  • Three Baylor starters are averaging at least 14 points a game, led by freshman Keyonte George, who averages 17.7 points a game. Adam Flagler averages 16.0 and L.J. Cryer 14.2. Flagler and Cryer both shoot better than 40 percent from three-point range.
  • According to KenPom, Baylor has the second-best offense in the nation (119.7 adjusted efficiency rating).
  • Grant Sherfield leads Oklahoma, averaging 17.5 points a game. The Nevada transfer has scored more than 20 points in three of the Sooners six conference games and in eight games overall this season.
  • OU’s Jalen Hill leads the Big 12 in free-throw shooting, making 88 percent of his attempts at the foul line. Sherfield in fourth in the conference in Free-throw shooting (86 percent).
  • Baylor leads the Big 12 in made three-point field goals, averaging 9.6 per game. Oklahoma leads the conference, however, in three-point field goal percentage (36.8) as well as three-point field goal defense (holding opponents to 28.8 percent accuracy).
  • All five of Baylor’s losses this season have been to teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
  • Baylor leads the Big 12 in offensive rebounds, averaging over 12 a game. Oklahoma is last in the Big 12 in that category, averaging just six a game.
Home/OU Basketball