By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Running into a desperate Oklahoma team that likely has to win the Big 12 Tournament to get a ticket to the Big Dance, third-ranked and second-seeded Baylor couldn't find a way to cool off a Sooners team that won its fourth-straight game. 
            Shooting a sizzling 11-of-21 from 3-point range, seventh-seeded OU (18-14) kept alive its postseason hopes, knocking off the Bears, 72-67, in Thursday's quarterfinal at the T-Mobile Center. 
            "We had two great games with them this year, two-possession (games) with under five minutes to go," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team had won five-straight games and seven of its last eight going into the Big 12 Tournament. 
            "Hungry or not hungry, they're a good team. Porter (Moser) does a great job coaching them, and that's why their NET rating is so high (42^nd). It's the best conference in the country because of the parity, and each and every night, if you don't bring it, you're going home."
            The Bears (26-6), third in the latest NCAA NET rankings, were projected to be a No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament selections are announced Sunday. But, the early exit could knock them down to a No. 2 regional seed. 
            "I think a lot depends on the other teams and what happens with them," Drew said. "It takes controlling our own destiny away. And as teams, players, you always want to have the opportunity to control your destiny. We will see what happens from there."
            Oklahoma scored the game's first seven points and led most of the way before Baylor closed the first half on a 12-2 run to go up 33-27 at the break. Turning it over three times and missing their last five shots, the Sooners went the last 4:26 of the half without a field goal. 
            Freshman Jeremy Sochan, who finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, started the closing run with a pair of free throws and capped it with a second-chance three-point play off an offensive rebound by Kendall Brown. 
            The Bears had a 13-0 edge in points off turnovers in the first half, forcing 11 OU turnovers. But, the Sooners turned it over just five times in the last 20 minutes. 
            "The message was we need to cut down on turnovers, obviously, and be strong with the ball," said Ethan Chargois, who had a second-half 3-pointer to go with five rebounds. "We knew we could win. We came in with a confident respect for these guys. . . . We really believed we were a force together, and we came out and got it done the second half."
            Baylor had all the momentum going in at half, but the Sooners started the second half just like they did the game, going on a 13-4 run and taking a 40-37 lead on a Jordan Goldwire 3-pointer. 
            "How we started both halves was probably the difference in the game," Drew said. "Credit OU for doing a good job executing early, and I did a a bad job preparing our guys."
            Other than the slow starts in both halves, Baylor's undoing was shooting a season-low 13.6% from 3-point range, going 3-for-12 from outside the arc. Adam Flagler, who had a double-figure scoring streak snapped at 13, missed all six shots from distance, went 1-for-10 overall and scored just two points. 
            "Our shooters normally don't go 3-of-22," Drew said, "so OU had something to do with that. At the same time, you're not always going to make shots. But, I think you can control the shots you take. And if they're the right shots, hopefully teams are in rotations where you can get offensive rebounds. And that didn't happen enough tonight."
            Trailing by as many as nine in the second half, Baylor used a full-court press to force turnovers and get back within one, 63-62, on a Sochan layup. OU shut the door on the comeback, though, by scoring seven unanswered points before a late 3-pointer by Sochan and a Matthew Mayer dunk at the buzzer. 
            James Akinjo led the Bears with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Mayer and Flo Thamba had 10 points apiece. OU had five double-figure scorers, led by Jacob Groves, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. 
            Waco native Umoja Gibson, a transfer from North Texas, chipped in with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists. Marvin Johnson (12), Goldwire (10) and Jalen Hill (10) also scored in double figures for the Sooners, who picked up their fifth win over a top-15 team. 
            Oklahoma advances to Friday's 8:30 p.m. semifinal and will face third-seeded and 14^th-ranked Texas Tech, which blew out Iowa State, 72-41. 
            After getting upset by Oklahoma State in last year's Big 12 Tournament semifinals, Baylor reeled off six-straight wins and claimed its first national championship. 
            "First, nobody likes losing. And when you lose, it recalibrates you, makes you hungrier," Drew said. "Second thing is, it will be different from the standpoint, last year we were coming off an extended three-week (COVID) pause, and we needed to get back to practicing hard, we needed to get back to the basics. This year, rotation-wise, injury-wise, we haven't had a pause. 
            "A couple days right now to recover and rehab is going to be important. And then, when we do practice, we will make sure that we do a better job putting our guys in position to be successful."