When you go on the road against the No. 2 team in the country, you have to play your absolute best. Oklahoma did not come anywhere close on Wednesday night.
“They’re good, they’re really good,” head coach Lon Kruger said on Baylor. “We’ve got to play better than we did to have a chance to beat that high of a level.”
The Sooners came into Waco, Texas riding high and playing with confidence after their big home win over No. 9 West Virginia on Saturday. That bravado was quickly extinguished by mighty Baylor, who opened the game on a 16-2 run to put Oklahoma into a hole they would never be able to find their way out from.
“They made a bunch of shots and obviously we weren’t into them enough to make those shots difficult,” Kruger said. “We’ve got to open better.”
The Sooners have become a team that is reliant on their 3-point shooting to carry them to wins against good teams. Look no further than Umoja Gibson’s sensational eight made triples in the win over West Virginia as evidence of that. On Wednesday, however, the team made just four 3-pointers all night long with Gibson never hitting even one.
“I thought the shots he got were not as good of shots based on what Baylor did,” Kruger said on Gibson. “I thought Baylor was very much aware of what he did the other night. Disappointed for Umoja because he wanted to come here and play well. Obviously he didn’t have one of his better nights, but he’ll bounce back.”
While Gibson was perhaps the most obvious player to have an off night given his big outing just four days ago, it was a team effort providing the offensive struggles. Brady Manek continues to not quite be the player we have become accustomed to seeing as he was held scoreless in the first half. Although, he did bounce back with ten points in the final 20 minutes which could be just what he needs to get himself going again.
“Much better second half,” Kruger said on Manek. “Obviously, he needs that. I thought the came out in the second half and did things he needed to do much better. Hopefully that’s a good step for him.”
Oklahoma had to have their best performance of the season tonight if they were going to knock off the undefeated Bears, and they really struggled on the offensive end. The old saying is that if you live by the three, you will die by the three. That is really where the Sooners are at right now. When they aren’t making shots from beyond the arc, this is an incredibly vulnerable team as it is currently performing.
They won’t have long to make the necessary adjustments as the schedule does not get any easier this week. Next up will be a trip to Lawrence, Kansas to deal with No. 6 Kansas on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT.
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