Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma basketball: Same old song; Baylor slips by Sooners late to win

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma Sooners guard Milos Uzan (12) goes past Baylor Bears guard Keyonte George (1) to the basket during a men's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Baylor Bears at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Baylor won 62-60.Ou Vs Baylor Men S Basketball
Oklahoma Sooners guard Milos Uzan (12) goes past Baylor Bears guard Keyonte George (1) to the basket during a men's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Baylor Bears at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Baylor won 62-60.Ou Vs Baylor Men S Basketball /
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Baylor hit two three-point shots with 90 seconds remaining to erase a two-point Oklahoma basketball lead and held on in the final seconds for a 62-60 road win over snake-bitten Sooners.

A two-point shot by C.J. Noland gave Oklahoma a 58-56 lead with 1:39 to go, but back-to-back three-pointers by Jalen Bridges and Adam Flagler and on the next two Baylor possessions put the Bears up by four, which proved to be too much and too late for the Sooners to overcome.

The Sooners (11-8, 2-5) led by four, 30-26, at halftime, and the second half was nip and tuck with no more than four points separating the two teams over the final 30 minutes. Oklahoma has trailed at halftime just once against seven Big 12 opponents but has come away with just two wins — against Texas Tech by five and West Virginia by one.

Jalen Hill scored a team-high 17 points for Oklahoma. Tanner Groves added 16. Both Hill and Groves pulled down nine rebounds, but the Sooners were outrebounded on the offensive glass 17 to 9 and 39 to 30 overall.

Grant Sherfield, Oklahoma’s leading scorer, was held to just eight points on 3 of 10 shooting.

The Sooners held No. 21 Baylor to 36-percent shooting from the field and just 62 points, 18 points below the Bears’ season average, but just weren’t able to pull it out at the end. which is fast becoming a troubling theme for OU in Big 12 play. Four of the Sooners’ five Big 12 losses have come by a total of 10 points and their three losses at home have been by a combined six points.

Flager scored 16 points to lead Baylor. but it was a pair of three-point shots in the final five minutes by Bridges, a transfer from West Virginia, that were the dagger to the Sooners heart. Bridges finished with 11 points. True freshman Keyonte George, Baylor scoring leader on the season, also contributed 11 points.

It was Baylor’s ninth consecutive win over Oklahoma in the regular season. The Bears improved to 14-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Sooner men, who next travel to TCU, a 23-point winner at Kansas on Saturday, for a Tuesday night game.

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