By SicEmSports
Maybe it was more of a grind than it needed to be. But the idea is to have more.
For the 6th time this season the Bears had multiple players reach 20 points. Keyonte George went for 23, while Adam Flagler poured in 20 as the Bears became part of a 4-way tie for second in the Big 12 with Kansas, Iowa State and Kansas State with their win over the Sooners at the Ferrell Center. Baylor has won eight of its last nine.
Baylor nearly had a third 20-point scorer as Langston Love finished with 19. They also took care of the ball with just seven turnovers. That's been a stretch of the last eight games where the Bears have turned it over 12 or fewer times.
However, the Sooners wouldn't make it easy. In fact, they used a 6-0 run in the second half to take a 48-47 lead. However, the Bears answered with a 6-0 run to reclaim it at 53-48 and never relinquished it.
Yet the Sooners would make big buckets to keep it a two-possession game for most of the night. Grant Sherfield was 4-8 from the arc and finished with 15. What hurt them was the little mistakes as they committed 14 turnovers and 6-12 at the foul line. That offset a 49 percent shooting performance.
Baylor finally finished this inside the final two minutes thanks to four George free throws. George's game was interesting. He made two quick 3s to start the game and then missed his final six. However, he was really good going to the basket and picking up several "and ones". He was 5-7 at the line.
Love, slow to come back from his thigh contusion that kept him out of the Texas game, was 7-9 from the field. Flager also wasn't great from the arc (2-8) but he did his work elsewhere as he was 6-6 at the line.
Baylor travels to No. 17 TCU Saturday for 3:00 p.m. start. The Horned Frogs won the first meeting on Charles O'Bannon jumper in the final seconds, 88-87. TCU has lost three of its last four and has been without Big 12 preseason player of the year Mike Miles since the Jan. 28 loss at Mississippi State. Miles suffered a hyperextended knee.
Postgame Quotes
Scott Drew
It’s a typical Big 12 game, hard fought. Coming in, I knew we were going to get OU’s A game. Same team that was up 21 with 1:30 or something to go against Alabama. Porter’s a great coach. You knew they’d be motivated, excited to play. When you come off a game with so much emotion with Jon coming back, we played so well in that second half. I was worried. When we lost LJ for second half, Caleb was battling something as well. Guys stepped up.
(Came out hot offensively) We came out hot, but the defense didn’t come out hot. They run great stuff, they got a good offense, but we did a bad job keeping them out of the paint. We were trading baskets rather than getting stops. Against Texas Tech when were getting separation we were getting stops. The times when we got on a run we got stops. They really did a great job executing, they had great pace to what they did. When you’re coming out strong offensively, you got to come out strong defensively as well.
(Moving with a game of first place) Getting a win is all that matters in the Big 12. So good, bad, ugly, you can play well and get losses in this league. Winning is what matters most. It was great. The crowd tonight we needed that energy. I know the student section was tremendous. But again that’s also why the pavilion is going to be nice on weekend games like this. It’s a sellout, the place is rocking, that’s another five points.
(Langston) Langston was really efficient, everything but the free throw line. Other than that, he really stepped up and did a great job today. That’s why you’ve got to have depth because every day is not your day.
(Will be LJ be ready to play against TCU) Hopefully. It’s something with his foot.
Keyonte George
(Won the turnover battle again) Coach Drew has done a good job of enforcing taking care of the ball. Y’all have seen early on we were turning the ball over and giving up points in transition. First we emphasized getting back and now we’re emphasizing playing on two feet with two hands. Stay ball strong and look for your teammates then. It starts in practice and now the results are showing on the camera and in the games. It’s cool to see that finally coming all together.
Maybe it was more of a grind than it needed to be. But the idea is to have more.
For the 6th time this season the Bears had multiple players reach 20 points. Keyonte George went for 23, while Adam Flagler poured in 20 as the Bears became part of a 4-way tie for second in the Big 12 with Kansas, Iowa State and Kansas State with their win over the Sooners at the Ferrell Center. Baylor has won eight of its last nine.
Baylor nearly had a third 20-point scorer as Langston Love finished with 19. They also took care of the ball with just seven turnovers. That's been a stretch of the last eight games where the Bears have turned it over 12 or fewer times.
However, the Sooners wouldn't make it easy. In fact, they used a 6-0 run in the second half to take a 48-47 lead. However, the Bears answered with a 6-0 run to reclaim it at 53-48 and never relinquished it.
Yet the Sooners would make big buckets to keep it a two-possession game for most of the night. Grant Sherfield was 4-8 from the arc and finished with 15. What hurt them was the little mistakes as they committed 14 turnovers and 6-12 at the foul line. That offset a 49 percent shooting performance.
Baylor finally finished this inside the final two minutes thanks to four George free throws. George's game was interesting. He made two quick 3s to start the game and then missed his final six. However, he was really good going to the basket and picking up several "and ones". He was 5-7 at the line.
Love, slow to come back from his thigh contusion that kept him out of the Texas game, was 7-9 from the field. Flager also wasn't great from the arc (2-8) but he did his work elsewhere as he was 6-6 at the line.
Baylor travels to No. 17 TCU Saturday for 3:00 p.m. start. The Horned Frogs won the first meeting on Charles O'Bannon jumper in the final seconds, 88-87. TCU has lost three of its last four and has been without Big 12 preseason player of the year Mike Miles since the Jan. 28 loss at Mississippi State. Miles suffered a hyperextended knee.
Postgame Quotes
Scott Drew
It’s a typical Big 12 game, hard fought. Coming in, I knew we were going to get OU’s A game. Same team that was up 21 with 1:30 or something to go against Alabama. Porter’s a great coach. You knew they’d be motivated, excited to play. When you come off a game with so much emotion with Jon coming back, we played so well in that second half. I was worried. When we lost LJ for second half, Caleb was battling something as well. Guys stepped up.
(Came out hot offensively) We came out hot, but the defense didn’t come out hot. They run great stuff, they got a good offense, but we did a bad job keeping them out of the paint. We were trading baskets rather than getting stops. Against Texas Tech when were getting separation we were getting stops. The times when we got on a run we got stops. They really did a great job executing, they had great pace to what they did. When you’re coming out strong offensively, you got to come out strong defensively as well.
(Moving with a game of first place) Getting a win is all that matters in the Big 12. So good, bad, ugly, you can play well and get losses in this league. Winning is what matters most. It was great. The crowd tonight we needed that energy. I know the student section was tremendous. But again that’s also why the pavilion is going to be nice on weekend games like this. It’s a sellout, the place is rocking, that’s another five points.
(Langston) Langston was really efficient, everything but the free throw line. Other than that, he really stepped up and did a great job today. That’s why you’ve got to have depth because every day is not your day.
(Will be LJ be ready to play against TCU) Hopefully. It’s something with his foot.
Keyonte George
(Won the turnover battle again) Coach Drew has done a good job of enforcing taking care of the ball. Y’all have seen early on we were turning the ball over and giving up points in transition. First we emphasized getting back and now we’re emphasizing playing on two feet with two hands. Stay ball strong and look for your teammates then. It starts in practice and now the results are showing on the camera and in the games. It’s cool to see that finally coming all together.
