If Oklahoma learned anything from it's herky-jerky performance in defeating an undermanned Colorado team Wednesday night in the opening round of the College Basketball Crown, it was if you can keep a game close and make shots and get defensive stops in the closing minutes, you can find a way to overcome and win an ugly game.
It builds confidence and enables teams to not be at their best, but still manage to find a way to win. That was the difference in the Sooners' nine-game losing streak in January and in the six-game winning streak at the end of the season that put Oklahoma one win short of likely playing in the NCAA Tournament.
The Sooners were fortunate to survive against Colorado, having to go an extra session for a 90-86 victory in overtime. As a result, Oklahoma has been able to stick around a few more days in Las Vegas and advance to face yet another former Big 12 opponent, Baylor, in the Crown semifinals on Saturday.
Baylor (17-16) earned its ticket to the next round with a 67-48 win over Minnesota behind 19 points by Tounde Yessoufou and 17-1 scoring run in the second half.
Oklahoma trailed for nearly 29 minutes of the game with Colorado, and for a good portion of the game, it appeared that the Buffaloes were poised to pull off a huge upset of the Sooners despite being without three of their top four scorers who were already headed to the Transfer Portal.
Oklahoma's shooting and passing in the Colorado game showed the effects of a two-and-a-half-week layoff since the Sooners' last game. OU had outshot each of its last seven opponents, shooting 50% or better against all seven, but the Sooners' in-game rhythm and accuracy was clearly off against the Buffaloes.
The Sooners shot just 36.7% from the field against the Buffaloes. Only three times in their last 21 games, all against SEC opponent, did the Sooners have that low a shooting percentage. Part of that can be attributed the the Colorado defensive performance, but the bigger contributor was definitely the rust factor.
To defeat Baylor and play for the championship in the second season of the College Basketball Crown, however, Oklahoma is going to have to quickly correct its shooting deficiency, specifically the accuracy and consistency, and have its overall game together much better than was the case in its ugly opening-round victory.
Read more: Oklahoma looked broken but Vegas refuses to jump off bandwagon
In the case, Sooner fans don't want what happened in Vegas on Wednesday night to stay in Vegas.
Oklahoma and Baylor have met a total of 72 times in their basketball series history, with the Sooners owning a 46-25 record against their former Big 12 foe.
The Sooners received $50,000 for the win over Colorado. A payout of $100,000 will go to the winner between OU and Baylor.
The Crown semifinal matchup between Oklahoma and Baylor will tip off at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday and be televised on FOX. The FOX broadcast crew will be Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analysis) and Kristina Pink (sideline reporter).
What to know about Baylor
Four Baylor starters average at least 10.0 points per game, led by the guard duo of Cameron Carr (19.0) and Tounde Yessoufou (17.9). The Bears ended the regular season shooting 51.4% from the field and averaging 81.0 points per game. Baylor has won 78 of its last 81 games when it shoots 50% or better and is 123-6 when it shoots a higher percentage than its opponent.
Unlike Baylor teams of recent seasons, the Bears are not a particularly good three-point shooting team. The Bears like to attack the basket and score down low or earn a trip to the free-throw line doing so. They scored 38 of their 67 total points in the opening-round win over Minnesota in the paint area. Baylor ranked third in the Big 12 this season with a field-goal percentage of 47.9, but shoots just 34.4% from behind the three-point line.
Baylor is No. 50 in NCAA NET rankings, two lower than Oklahoma's No. 48 ranking.
This is Baylor's second trip to Las Vegas this season. The Bears competed in the Players Era Tournament Nov. 24-26, defeating Creighton and San Diego State and losing to St. Johns.
What to know about Oklahoma
Four Sooner starters are averaging double figures in scoring, led by guard tandem Nijel Pack (16.6) and Xzayvier Brown (15.3). Oklahoma has posted a higher shooting percentage than its opponent in seven of the last nine games. That could be an important stat in the game Saturday. Baylor is 12-0 this season when it shoots a better percentage than its opponent.
Freshman Kuol Atak had not seen action in a game for over a month, but he played 27 minutes in the win over Colorado and was a major contributor in the Sooners' win, scoring 16 points, including four three-pointers. He hit back-to-back three-point shots late in the first half that helped cut a 10-point Colorado lead to just four points at halftime. Despite being 6-foot-9, Atak shoots 42.9% from behind the arc. Look for him to be in the rotation coming off the bench against Baylor.
The first-round win over Colorado gave Oklahoma 20 wins for the season, the third time in head coach Porter Moser's five seasons in Norman that OU has reached the 20-win level.
If Oklahoma defeats Baylor and West Virginia defeats Creighton in the other semifinal pairing on Saturday, the Sooners will face a third straight team out of the Big 12 in this tournament, this time for the championship.
Prediction
Watching Oklahoma battle through all the rust from the two-week layoff against a depleted Colorado team in the first round of this tournament gives some worry about which OU team will show up against Baylor, which didn't appear to have similar issues in its win over Minnesota. On paper, this appears to be a fairly evenly matched game.
A lot will be determined by which team is able to get off to a fast start and grab the lead early. That is going to require energy and physicality from the start, good smart basketball at the offensive end and getting stops on defense without fouling. The team that does that better at the start and for longer in the game will win and advance to the tournament championship. I think we will see a more focused OU team on Saturday,