As the most brutal portion of Oklahoma’s basketball schedule continues on the Sooners dropped their fourth consecutive game with a 65-51 home loss to Baylor on Saturday. It was a game of runs between the Sooners and Bears as Baylor built big leads at the beginning on both halves. However, it was also a game of crucial mistakes for OU as they committed a season-high 25 turnovers and shot just 27.8% from three-point range.
Despite the early deficits, Oklahoma fought back to gain a 21-17 lead, after falling behind 10-0, and then pulled to within 45-42 near the seven minute mark of the second half. In both cases the Bears fought back to regain the lead in the first half and extend their lead in the closing minutes of the game to secure their 17th win of the season.
Led by Mo Gibson’s 13 points, three Sooners finished in double figures. Elijah Harkless had 12 points and Tanner Groves scored all 11 of his points in the second half. Oklahoma now stands at 12-7 on the season and plays three of its next four games on the road.
Game Defining Moment
Be it with a measure of controversy, Baylor closed out the game on a 20-9 run to put the game out of reach. The Sooners had pulled to within 45-42 on a pair of Elijah Harkless free throws and then things got a bit out of hand, thanks in part to a botched call by the officials. Following a James Akinjo layup that put the Bears up 47-42, Tanner Groves was kneed in the face on the next Sooner possession by a jumping Matthew Mayer from Baylor. That “non-foul” resulted in a turnover from Groves and a break for Baylor that was stopped by an intentional foul by Elijah Harkless. Groves was given a technical foul for complaining about the knee to his face and then the Bears were also awarded free throws for the foul by Harkless. In a matter of seconds OU went from being down three points at 45-42 to being down nine at 51-42.
Wait…What?
The Hero
Mo Gibson shot 4-of-9 from the floor and made both of his free throw attempts to lead the Sooners with 13 points. He also grabbed three boards and dished out two assists.
The Problem Child
Baylor senior guard Adam Flagler led all scorers with 16 points. He also dished out three assists and came up with two steals.
Up Next
The Sooners travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to play West Virginia. It begins a stretch of games where OU will play three of four on the road.
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