No. 5 MBB Heads to Norman to Complete Season Series with Oklahoma
1/20/2022 3:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears are seeking their ninth-straight win over the Sooners
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#5/6 BAYLOR BEARS (16-2, 4-2) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
OKLAHOMA (12-6, 2-4) vs. #5/6 BAYLOR (16-2, 4-2) Jan. 22, 2022 • 2:00 p.m. CT Norman, Okla. • Lloyd Noble Center (11,528) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Mark Neely (pxp), Lance Blanks (analyst) LISTEN: Learfield/ ESPN 1660 AM in Central Texas Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: Sirius 83, XM, 83, Internet 83 Baylor Social Media:    |
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OKLAHOMA SOONERS (12-6, 2-4) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Porter Moser (Creighton, 1990) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
In a perfect world, fifth-ranked Baylor (16-2, 4-2) wouldn't be playing Oklahoma (12-6, 2-4) for the second time in 19 days. But, here we are.
While the Bears still haven't played No. 7 Kansas, 23rd-ranked Texas or Kansas State once, they will finish the season series with the Sooners in Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
"You'd like to play everybody once and then play everybody again, but it is what is," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "If you've got a guy out for a couple weeks, you might face a team that's completely different with two or three guys back later in the year. But, everybody deals with injuries and COVID and whatnot, so it is what it is."
Ranked No. 1 at the time, Baylor won the first meeting, 84-74, on Jan. 4 at the Ferrell Center, with both teams lighting it up with 56% shooting from the field. That's the most points the Bears have allowed this season.
Junior guard Adam Flagler (12.2 ppg, 3.6 assists) said the key for Baylor's defense is to "stay compact and protect the paint" against an OU team that is averaging 71.9 points per game and shooting 49.5% from the floor.
"They do a really good job. I think they're top-15 in the country in cutting," Flagler said, "so we definitely put a lot of emphasis on that and focusing in on that for this game."
Since beating then-No. 11 Iowa State, 79-66, on Jan. 8 for its third win over a top-15 team this season, Oklahoma has lost three in a row to fall into a last-place tie with Iowa State and Kansas State. But, the Sooners are just a game out of fourth place and have a NET ranking of No. 37, one of eight teams in the league projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
"They get a lot of points and shots at the rim and the charge circle area," Drew said of the Sooners. "They do a great job moving and cutting without the ball. Nowadays, the game is played so often off ball screens and off the bounce. They do a great job with the five-out cuts."
Tanner Groves, a 6-10 transfer from Eastern Washington, leads OU with 12.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and is shooting a sizzling 55.1% from the floor.
"I would say he's a complete player, he can score at all three levels," Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua said of Groves. "He is really hard to guard . . . I really believe he's one of the best big men in the Big 12, so it's definitely a good matchup."
A prep star at Waco University High School, North Texas transfer Umoja Gibson (12.4 ppg) is the Sooners' only other double-figure scorer, while Elikah Harkless (9.8 ppg), Jalen Hill (9.8 ppg, 6.3 rebounds) and Jordan Goldwire (9.7 ppg, 3.6 assists) are all scoring threats.
Shorthanded, with both James Akinjo (13.9 ppg, 5.7 assists) and freshman forward Jeremy Sochan (7.9 ppg, 5.9 rebounds) out with injuries, Baylor survived a stiff road test to defeat West Virginia, 77-68, Tuesday night in Morgantown. LJ Cryer and Matthew Mayer hit five 3-pointers apiece and scored a career-high 25 and 20 points, respectively.
"The guys were really together. They were competing at a high level, which doesn't guarantee that you're going to win. But, it definitely gave us a chance," Drew said. "I thought the guys did a great job on the bench and everyone was involved. And that's what it takes. When a man's down, everyone's got to pick it up."
Calling both Akinjo and Sochan "game-time decisions," Drew said, "the one thing we don't want to do is be in a situation where we put someone out there that doesn't help the team."
Handling more of the point guard role in the game at West Virginia, Flagler hit two late 3-pointers and finished with 14 points and seven assists and had zero turnovers in the second half.
"My coaching staff and my teammates trusted me to handle the ball," Flagler said. "Obviously, it's an adjustment being out there on the court, but it was nothing that was too much. My teammates kept encouraging me, telling me to just play my game. I'm glad we won."
Saturday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Mark Neely and Lance Blanks calling the action.
Following the trip to Norman, Baylor returns home to face Kansas State (10-7, 2-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Wildcats, who have won back-to-back games after an 0-4 start in league play, host Kansas (15-2, 4-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.
STORY LINES
• No. 5 Baylor looks to sweep the season series against Oklahoma at 2 pm CT Saturday in Norman.
• BU is seeking its 8th-straight win against Oklahoma (previous best was 3) and 3rd-straight in Norman.
• Baylor is 9-1 vs. Oklahoma since the 2016-17 season, including a 3-1 mark in Norman. In their last 4 trips to Norman, the Bears have wins by 26, 30 and 11 points, along with a 2-point loss (2018).
• Baylor is making its first trip to Norman since Feb. 18, 2020, when BU won 65-54 for its 23rd-straight win, the longest winning streak by any team in the league's 26-year history.
• BU snapped its first 2-game losing streak in 1,038 days with Tuesday's 77-68 win at West Virginia. With James Akinjo and Jeremy Sochan out, LJ Cryer (25) and Matthew Mayer (20) scored career-highs.
• WVU led 54-53 with 8 minutes left, but Cryer, Mayer and Adam Flagler combined for 20 points after that.
• Sochan (ankle sprain) has missed the last 3.5 games, while Akinjo (lower back) has missed one.
• In the last 2 weeks, 4 different Bears have posted 20-point games (Akinjo, Cryer, Flagler, Mayer).
• BU has won 13-consecutive games away from home – 9 neutral, 4 road (last loss March 12 vs. OSU).
• Baylor is 3-0 in Big 12 road games this season, while the rest of the league is a combined 7-18.
• Baylor is 17-3 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons (rest of league is 66-117 in B12 road games).
• BU is 31-1 vs. unranked teams over the last 2 seasons (+23.2 avg margin) with all wins by 5+ points.
• Despite consecutive losses, Baylor is still No. 2 in KenPom and No. 4 in NCAA NET rankings.
• Baylor's 32-6 Big 12 conference record over the last 3 seasons is the best of any Power-5 team.
• Baylor has been No. 1 ranked in 4 of the last 6 seasons (Gonzaga, Duke and Kansas are only others).
• For a second-straight season, Baylor was one of the nation's final two undefeated teams.
• Baylor's 44-4 record over the last 2 seasons is the nation's best among Power-5 teams, and the Bears' 70-8 record over the last 3 seasons is 2nd-best nationally, trailing only Gonzaga (76-5).
• Baylor's bench has out-scored the opponents' bench in 14 of 18 games and by an average of 28-20.
• BU is allowing only 6.7 second-chance points per game, while scoring 12.3 second-chance points.
• Baylor is the nation's only team ranked top-30 in scoring offense (26th) and scoring defense (20th).
• Baylor ranks top-25 nationally in scoring margin (5th, +19.4), assists (10th, 17.7), steals (18th, 9.4), rebounding margin (14th, +8.1), effective FG% (17th, .552), turnovers forced (19th, 17.2),
turnover margin (22nd, +4.4) and offensive rebound percentage (9th, 37.7).
• BU has forced 10+ turnovers in 26-straight games, including 12+ TOs in 17 of 18 games this season.
• BU's 48-straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 is the nation's 3rd-longest behind Gonzaga and Villanova.
• Baylor is on a school-record streak of 40-straight weeks top-10 ranked (top-5 ranked in 37 of those).
• Baylor has been ranked in all 25 spots in the AP Top 25 at some point in the last 7 years.
• Baylor has built leads of 11+ points in 23 of 24 games since the start of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
• BU has built double-digit leads in 68 of 78 games over the last 3 seasons (44 of 48 last 2 seasons).
• BU has defeated 3 currently top-15 ranked teams this season – No. 11 Villanova (57-36 in Waco), No. 14 Michigan State (75-58 in Battle 4 Atlantis title game) and No. 15 Iowa State (77-72 in Ames).
QUICK HITS
• BU went 305 days between losses, the longest in program history (March 12, 2021 – Jan. 11, 2022).
• Baylor is the first program to start consecutive seasons 15-0 since Syracuse in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
• Head coach Scott Drew is in his 19th season at Baylor with a school-record 386 career victories, including a 17-8 mark in NCAA Tournaments, which is the 7th-best mark among active coaches.
• Baylor's streak of 18-straight wins by 8+ points was snapped in a 5-point win at Iowa State. BU was the first returning national champion to win its first 12 games by 8+ points since 1990-91 UNLV.
• Baylor has won 36 straight non-conference games (+23.2 average margin) dating back to Nov. 2019.
• BU ranks 9th nationally in KenPom's offensive rebound pct (37.7), its 8th-straight year ranked top-10.
• BU is playing its 297th game as a ranked team under Drew – BU was ranked in 2 of 2,197 games over the program's 97 seasons prior to Drew. Since January 2010, BU has been ranked in 281 of 418 games.
• Baylor and Kansas are the only Power-5 schools to win 18+ games every year since 2008.
• Baylor's streak of 9 consecutive postseasons is tied as the nation's 7th-longest active streak.
• Baylor has won 20+ games in 12 of the last 14 seasons after recording only three 20-win seasons in the previous 100 years of Baylor Basketball (1946, 1948, 1988).
• Baylor is 89-6 when leading at halftime over the last 5 seasons (59-3 over last 3 seasons, 24-0 last season).
• Baylor has won 90% of its games when leading at the half since 2011-12 (206-22).
• BU is 70-5 when leading at any point in the 2nd half of a game over the last 3 seasons.
• Baylor is 261-101 over the last 10+ seasons, averaging 24.5 wins per season since 2011-12.
• Baylor's 261 wins since 2011-12 are second-most in the Big 12 behind only Kansas (300).
• Baylor is 352-148 since 2007-08, the first year Drew's staff had a full allotment of scholarships.
• Five of Baylor's players have used or are currently using a redshirt year. Two after transferring to BU (Flagler, Tchamwa Tchatchoua), one before transferring (Bonner) and two as freshmen — Turner and Langston Love.
• Ten of Baylor's 11 starting point guards under Drew have earned All-Big recognition (16 of last 17 seasons).
• Baylor is 1 of 10 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012 (7 NCAAs, 2 NITs).
• Baylor has the nation's 9th-longest active streak with at least one 3-point FG made in 980 straight games — the last time Baylor failed to make a 3-pointer was more than 30 years ago, on Feb. 21, 1990 vs. Texas Tech (0-8).
• BU is 7-1 all-time in Big 12/SEC Challenges, the best record of any team in either league. Combined with a 3-1 mark in the Big 12/Pac-10 Series and 1-0 in the Big 12/Big East Battle, Baylor is 11-2 in conference challenges.
• Baylor has won 8 tournament titles under Drew – 2007 Paradise Jam, 2011 Las Vegas Classic, 2013 NIT, 2016 & 2021 Battle 4 Atlantis, 2017 Hall of Fame Classic, 2019 Myrtle Beach Invitational and 2021 NCAA Championship.
BEARS MAKE BIG 12 HISTORY
• In the last three seasons, Baylor has recorded the longest winning streak in the Big 12 Conference's 26-year history (23 in 2019-20), the 3rd-longest in Big 12 history (21 in 2021-22) and tied the 5th-longest (18 in 2020-21).
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS IN BIG 12 HISTORY
1. 23 – Baylor, 2019-20
2. 22 – Kansas, 1996-97
3. 21 – Baylor, 2021-22
4. 20 – Kansas, 2007-08
T5. 18 – Baylor, 2020-21; Kansas 2016-17; Kansas 2012-13; Kansas, 2010-11
T9. 17 – Kansas 2015-16; Baylor 2011-12, Texas 2009-10
For the full version of Baylor's game notes, click here. For Oklahoma game notes, click here.
